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Weekly Roundup
DA wants better COVID-19 data from SA's provinces
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is putting pressure on South Africa’s provincial health departments to release more details about their COVID-19 testing and confirmed cases,...
IFS analysis on why BAME people may be more at risk from coronavirus
The death rate among British black Africans and British Pakistanis from coronavirus in English hospitals is more than 2.5 times that of the white...
Suspicions raised after 3 Russian doctors 'fall' from hospital windows
Three frontline health care workers have mysteriously fallen out of hospital windows in Russia over the past two weeks, heightening public attention to the...
Cyber attackers targeting COVID-19 research and vaccine data in UK and US
The UK and US have warned that state-backed cyber attackers are trying to steal data from universities, pharmaceuticals and research institutes involved in the...
WHO recognises traditional medicine in developing new COVID-19 treatments but cautions against lack of evidence
The World Health Organisation (WHO) welcomes innovations around the world including re-purposing drugs, traditional medicines and developing new therapies in the search for potential...
FDA permits emergency use of remdisivir for COVID-19
The US Food and Drug Administration has announced that it would permit emergency use of remdisivir, the antiviral medicine from Gilead Sciences, to treat...
SA patients with HIV having problems with collection of ARV drugs
Although health scientists have been warning the population on the dangers of not following antiretroviral therapy (ART), COVID-19 has created several problems for patients...
Solidarity urges SA's own medical sector workers be prioritised over Cubans
Trade union Solidarity said that it noted government’s import of Cuban medical practitioners, engineers and staff to manage COVID-19, and that the welfare of...
SA's COVID-19 roundup – 30 April 2020: Eastern Cape spike as outbreak pattern changes
A spike in COVID-19 infections in the Eastern Cape is part of changing patterns in the outbreak, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize told a parliamentary...
Limpopo Health leads the pack in COVID-19 screening and testing
Limpopo Health has screened 2.7m people for COVID-19, a staggering figure that matches the combined tally of all the other provinces bar the Eastern...
Hospersa warns of growing discontent over govt's 'lack of appreciation'
Hospersa, a union of more than 60,000 health workers in the public and private health sector, said in a statement that it has raised...
Deployed SANDF will support DOH to manage COVID-19
The entire South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has been put on standby, says a Polity report. The deployment of more than 73,000 SANDF...
What the lockdown means for sexual and reproductive health services in SA
Thuthukile Mbatha, a researcher and Tendai Mafuma legal researcher at Section27 write in a Spotlight report that over the past few weeks, South Africa...
All German states make face masks compulsory
All of Germany's states have announced plans to make face masks compulsory to combat the spread of coronavirus. BBC News reports that Bremen became...
SA joins WHO's global COVID-19 collaboration
South Africa has taken part in the launch of the World Health Organisation’s initiative, which will see international collaboration aimed at accelerating the development...
Private hospital shares not faring well in the time of COVID-19
There are few, if any, places to seek shelter on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) while the COVID-19 pandemic rages. Business Day reports that...
SA's COVID-19 roundup – 23 April 2020: 45,000 deaths expected over next 2-3 years
According to data from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) as at 21 April, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South...
Doctors from UCT's class of 1993 launch appeal for a lifting of the hard lockdown
An open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, originating from 27 graduates the University of Cape Town's MBChB 1993 class, appealing for him to...
Durban woman and her newborn baby test positive for COVID-19
A Durban woman who tested positive for COVID-19 when she was admitted to hospital for the birth of her baby last week is recovering...
Human trials for COVID-19 vaccine trials start in the UK
The UK is beginning human trials of a coronavirus vaccine, Bloomberg reports that Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “In the long run, the best...
Noakes apologises for some of his comments on COVID-19
Professor Tim Noakes, who has faced backlash after his comments on the novel coronavirus, says while he got some information wrong, one thing remains...
SA to establish 1,644 field hospitals and quarantine centres
As South Africa braces for an onslaught of COVID-19 infections, the state is moving to establish 1,644 emergency field hospitals and quarantine sites to...
Life Healthcare takes R240m half-year revenue hit from COVID-19
Private hospital group Life Healthcare expects to take a profit hit from delays to elective surgeries, saying that the COVID-19 pandemic has already cost...
Health Dept investigates Durban hospital over 'maggot infested' food for quarantine patients
South Africa’s Health Department is investigating allegations that patients in isolation at Durban’s Clairwood Hospital were being served stale food containing maggots, says a...
Some KZN food manufacturers shut following COVID-19 outbreaks
Food outlets in KZN have been hit by the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, with Tiger Brands the latest to feel its effects. It was forced...
US ending WHO funding may harm African polio, HIV/Aids and malaria programmes
President Donald Trump’s decision to stop US funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the middle of the coronavirus fight could harm other...
Imperative to record ethnicity of COVID-19 patients, says chair of BMA
The UK government’s failure to record and publish real-time data on the ethnicity of COVID-19 patients is a scandal that is endangering lives. The...
SA'S COVID-19 situation — 16 April, 2020: Expert panel outlines SA strategy
On Monday, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, accompanied by various experts and the chair of the ministerial advisory group, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, took the...
Noakes' statements on COVID-19 labelled 'false and misleading'
Professor Tim Noakes, sport scientist and proponent of the Banting diet, is again embroiled in controversy, this time over allegedly "false and misleading" statements...
Medical schemes to pay psychologists full rates for virtual consultation rates
South Africa’s biggest medical scheme administrators, Discovery Health and Medscheme, have softened their stance on virtual consultations with psychologists and agreed to pay out...
US hospitals struggle to maintain pharmaceutical supplies
US hospitals in regions experiencing a surge of coronavirus patients are struggling to maintain supplies of antibiotics, antivirals and sedatives required for patients on...
Russia's 'huge influx' starts to strain Moscow's hospitals
The Kremlin said on Saturday a “huge influx” of coronavirus patients was beginning to put a strain on hospitals in Moscow as Russia’s death...
COVID-19 is encouraging ARV therapy uptake in SA
In South Africa, where coronavirus was first detected in March, doctors have scrambled to organise testing and treatment for the approximately 7.5m people who...
Old Mutual offers free life cover for SA's 430,000 healthcare workers
Every single one of South Africa's registered healthcare workers will now be entitled to free life insurance worth R10,000 in light of COVID-19, Business...
DA: Urgent budget amendments could free up R1bn to help Eastern Cape fight COVID-19
Amendments to the Eastern Cape budget allocations could free up R1bn to fight COVID-19, says Retief Odendaal, the Democratic Alliance's Eastern Cape Shadow MEC...
SA companies partner to develop prefabricated turnkey medical facility
A partnership between renewable energy company Africa Clean Energy Solutions (Aces) and mining, civil and roadworks company 3C Tech Mining has led to the...
West and SA increasingly endorse mass public use of face masks
Western countries have begun to embrace the mass public use of face masks to combat coronavirus in a growing trend that mimics long-standing anti-pandemic...
Successful genome sequencing of SA sample of SARS-CoV-2
Knowing the enemy of COVID-19 from a genetic perspective adds to understanding the puzzle of the virus that’s killed more than 70,600 people around...
COVID-19 continues to evolve rapidly on the African continent – WHO report
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said in its latest situation report on the COVID-19 outbreak in Africa that the outbreak continues to rapidly...
SA's strategy to track the virus using cellphones
New disaster management regulations published last week describe how the South African government intends tracing those who have come into contact with people who...