The South African health minister Joe Phaahla has expressed his disappointment at the decision of some countries to suspend all flights from the country as a new variant of the coronavirus has been detected. Mr Phaahla on Friday says the introduction of travel restrictions by a number of countries against …
Read More »COVID-19: WHO due to hold meeting over new variant in South Africa
The World Health Organization (WHO) is due to hold a special meeting on Friday to consider the significance of a rapidly spreading new coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa. Experts in Geneva will decide whether the B.1.1.529 variant should be designated a variant of concern. A senior WHO official said …
Read More »COVID-19: UK halts flights from six African countries
British authorities have suspended all flights from South Africa and five other countries in the region in response to the discovery of a highly transmissible new coronavirus variant. From midday GMT on Friday, direct flights from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Eswatini will be suspended until further notice. …
Read More »COVID-19: Kenya and Rwanda begin children vaccination
Health officials in Kenya and Rwanda have announced that adolescents are now eligible to receive Pfizer’s anti-Covid vaccines as the two East African countries launch vaccination campaigns. Rwanda will be vaccinating children from the age of 12 and above from Tuesday while Kenya is allowing those from 15 years. The …
Read More »The Gates Foundation to provide $ 4 million for syringe manufacturing in Africa
The Gates Foundation will offer $4 million to address the looming shortage of syringes for Covid-19 vaccination in Africa. This comes amid warning from the World Health Organization (WHO) that the shortage of crucial commodities such as syringes was slowing the rollout of Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the continent. Kenyan …
Read More »DR Congo: authorities record new Ebola cases
Eight new cases of the Ebola virus have been recorded in North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports on Wednesday. Of the eight cases, there have been six fatalities, the WHO’s regional office for Africa said on its Twitter account. Some 573 …
Read More »Covid-19: 5 million people have already died of the disease worldwide
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused the death of more than 5 million people worldwide since the WHO office in China reported the onset of the disease at the end of 2019. This assessment, which takes into account the deaths recorded by the national health authorities, only represents a part of …
Read More »Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus set to stay on as WHO chief
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, one of the most prominent figures during the Covid-19 pandemic, is the sole candidate to lead the World Health Organization once his current term expires, the WHO announced Friday. In his application letter, the Ethiopian former health and foreign minister said Covid-19 had “ravaged the world” and in a …
Read More »COVID-19: Mayor of Moscow orders confinement of Muscovites over 60
The mayor of Moscow has decided that unvaccinated residents over the age of 60 stay at home from this Monday and for the next 120 days as the country is hit hard by a new wave of Covid-19 – Sunday. The mayor of the Russian capital has decreed the re-confinement …
Read More »More than 100,000 health workers have died from Covid-19 – WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) says more than 100,000 health workers have died since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and that millions are still unvaccinated. WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the situation an indictment of the countries and companies that controlled global supply, and said members of the …
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