Category: COVID-19 Corona Virus

The novel Coronavirus has claimed more than 45 000 lives since the first case was reported in March last year.

This is after 398 more COVID-19 related deaths were reported on Wednesday, pushing the death toll to 45 344.

Of the latest fatalities, 138 are from KwaZulu-Natal, 97 in Gauteng, 67 in the Western Cape, 46 in the Eastern Cape, 21 in Mpumalanga and 12 in Free State.

Two provinces recorded single-digit deaths — nine in the Northern Cape and eight in Limpopo.

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, expressed his sympathies to those who have lost their loved ones and thanked the healthcare workers who treated the deceased.

Meanwhile, 4 060 people were confirmed to have contracted the deadly virus, with a positivity rate of 10%.

This brings the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases to 1 463 016 since the outbreak, of which 1 323 680 patients recovered, representing a recovery rate of 90.5%

Active cases continue to decline – from 95 508 to 93 992 since the last report.

The Minister said KwaZulu-Natal has 42 048 people who are currently infected, 13 445 in the Western Cape, 8 884 in the Free State, 8 727 in Gauteng and 7 722 in the North West.

Meanwhile, there are 3 890 active cases in the Northern Cape, 3 571 in Mpumalanga, 3 151 in Limpopo and 2 554 in the Eastern Cape.

Mkhize said 39 596 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total 8 369 287.

Globally, there have been 103 362 039 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2 244 713 deaths, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

According to WHO, 3.7 million new cases were reported last week, a 13% decline as compared to the previous week and a decrease in the third consecutive week.

Meanwhile, there were 96 000 new deaths, a 1% decline as compared to the previous week.

“This brings the total number of cases to over 102 million and the total number of deaths to 2.2 million from 222 countries and territories,” the agency said.

All WHO regions, except South-East Asia, reported a drop in new cases.

Although new deaths declined globally by 1%, they rose in the Western Pacific (21%), Eastern Mediterranean (9%), and the Americas (4%).

30 January 2021 marked one year since WHO declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

“At that time, there were 9 826 cases in 20 countries, and 213 deaths in one country, of which all were in were in China,” the agency said.

In the past week, five countries continue to report the highest number of new cases. These are the United States (1 072 287 cases, a 15% decrease), Brazil (364 593 cases, a 1% increase), the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland (178 629 cases, a 31% decrease), France (141 092 cases, a 2% increase) and Russia (131 039 cases, a 13% decrease).

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has launched an investigation into allegations of price gouging relating to garlic and ginger.

“The law defines price gouging as an unfair or unreasonable price increase that does not correspond to or is not equivalent to the increase in the cost of providing that good or service,” the NCC said on Wednesday.

The investigation follows an outcry by consumers carried in the media including social media platforms regarding alleged excessive prices of both products by various suppliers.

Consumer and Customer Protection and National Disaster Management Regulations and Directions, issued in terms of Regulation 350 of Government Notice 43116 contains a list of 22 essential products, which a supplier must not charge unfair or at an unreasonable price.

“This was done to protect consumers against unconscionable, unfair, unreasonable, unjust or improper commercial practises during the national disaster,” the NCC said.

Acting Consumer Commissioner Thezi Mabuza said the commission initiated this investigation, as empowered by Section 71 of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), following a public outcry.

“The purpose of the CPA is, amongst others, to reduce and ameliorate any disadvantages experienced in accessing any supply of goods or services by consumers,” Mabuza said.

The investigations into the following companies have commenced:

• Food Lovers Market;
• Spar Group;
• Pick n Pay;
• Shoprite Group;
• Boxer Superstores;
• Cambridge Foods and
• Woolworths

“Our investigation is not limited to these suppliers. We urge consumers throughout the country to monitor the market and where they suspect excessive price increase, they must file complaints with the commission.

“These allegations, if proven true, would constitute a violation of Regulation 350 and an imposition fine of up to R1000 000 or up to 10% of a supplier’s annual turnover or even imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months,” Mabuza said.

Consumers are urged to lodge complaints by contacting the NCC at 0800 014 880 or 012 428 7000 during office hours.

Clinicians can now self-register to get their COVID-19 inoculation, as government prepares for its historic vaccination rollout in the next coming weeks.

Launching the Electronic Vaccine Data System (EVDS) on Wednesday, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said more than 34 000 frontline workers have already registered.

Healthcare workers can register on http://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za.

In line with the phased approach of the vaccine rollout plan, the Minister is calling on all health workers to self-register on the portal.

According to Mkhize, those who have so far registered include clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers from both the public and private sectors.

Mkhize said medical students and traditional workers have been added to the list as well.

“If you’re working in a professional healthcare setting, you need to be registered. Anyone who touches patients, whether you are a porter, security guard or cleaner and everyone who’s at risk, must register.”

The EVDS will verify a person’s medical care worker status by checking against the employment data or other organisations that hire or regulate healthcare workers.

“Therefore, while it’s possible to register on the site if one is not a healthcare worker, the system will automatically prioritise verified healthcare workers for the period of phase one,” Mkhize explained.

Mkhize said it is very easy to register, takes less than one megabyte and about two minutes to complete the registration process.

Any frontline worker who cannot register online must seek assistance from the Occupational Health and Safety representatives in their municipalities.

However, Mkhize said if a health frontline worker has not registered, they will not be denied vaccination.

“You’ll be registered at the vaccination site. It will just take a few minutes longer. However, we encourage healthcare workers to register because it will help us to know how to refine our current allocations and get enough vaccines to the right centres at the right time,” the Minister said.

Registration guidelines

The Health Department’s Acting Chief Operating Officer (COO), Milani Wolmarans, said workers can register with either their ID or passport number.

The portal will collect general personal details, including name and surname, and the system will automatically calculate the date of birth.

The system also requires an email address and cell phone number.

“A cell phone number is important because it will be used to communicate with the healthcare worker. This is the only personal information communicated through the portal.”

Thereafter, the healthcare workers will be asked to fill in their information about employment and medical aid scheme.

The COO assured workers their data will be protected when they register for the vaccine, and that system has undergone penetration testing.

Wolmarans said the portal is managed through the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, and is owned by the National Department of Health.

“The system will not crash after a million people have been registered and the EVDS is built on the health patient registration system, which is already managing 59 million records.”

While there may be delays, Wolmarans said the system will not stop working.

Digital health information systems

Mkhize said this is the beginning of the complete vaccination health information system – from registration to certification.

“The system has been developed with the purpose of ensuring we lay a solid foundation for digital health information systems that inform the right national policies and interventions.”

Mkhize said government is making strides by capitalising on the department’s existing health patient registration platform, which will feed into the EVDS.

“The system can capture the relevant metrics of all South Africans that will be vaccinated and ensure they are contactable, and complete the certification process, such that they’re easy to obtain.”

Mkhize said government is proud to offer a service that ensures healthcare workers are inoculated efficiently.

“We’ve reached a significant milestone in our fight against COVID-19,” he said.

According to the Health Department, 547 people passed away due to COVID-19 on Tuesday, which brings the death toll to 44 946 since the outbreak.

Of the additional fatalities, 143 occurred in KwaZulu-Natal, 134 in Limpopo, 91 in Gauteng, 69 in the Western Cape, 68 in the Eastern Cape and 30 in Free State.

“In Limpopo, the province captured deaths from retrospective audits between 6 September and 29 January 2020,” Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, explained.

Meanwhile, nine were reported in Mpumalanga and three in the Northern Cape.

“We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers who treated the deceased patients,” Mkhize said.

Also, 2 649 people who were confirmed to have contracted the virus, pushing the total number of cases to 1 458 958 since the last report.

Meanwhile, the country now has 95 508 active cases.

KwaZulu-Natal is the worst-hit province with 43 371 patients who are currently infected, while 14 333 are in the Western Cape, 8 974 in Free State and 8 614 in Gauteng.

“Our recoveries now stand at 1 318 504, representing a recovery rate of 90%.”

The information is based on 8 329 691 tests with 28 942 recorded since the last report.

According to the World Health Organisation, there have been 102 942 987 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2 232 233 deaths, to date.

COVID-19 has now killed more than 43 000 people in South Africa after 555 more patients succumbed to the respiratory disease on Thursday.

According to the Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, 249 fatalities were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal, 150 in the Eastern Cape, 70 in Gauteng, 45 in the Western Cape, 21 in Mpumalanga and 10 in Free State.

Seven were recorded in Limpopo and three in the Northern Cape, which pushes the death toll to 43 105.

“We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the healthcare workers who treated the deceased patients,” said Mkhize.

Also, the country’s confirmed COVID-19 cases have hit 1 437 798, with 7 151 new infections reported in the last 24 hours.

The additional cases represent a 15% positivity rate.

The country now has 122 496 active cases, with four provinces being the hardest hit.

KwaZulu-Natal currently has 45 736 patients who are currently infected, followed by the Western Cape with 18 866, 17 335 in Gauteng and 13 090 in the North West.

“Our recoveries now stand at 1 272 197, representing a recovery rate of 88.3%,” said the Minister.

The data is based on the 8 156 239 tests of which 48 406 were performed since the last report.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are now over 100 million confirmed global cases of COVID-19, including 2 166 440 deaths, to date.

Excess deaths

According to the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) during December 2020 and January 2021, the numbers of excess deaths increased relentlessly as the second wave of the pandemic unfolded in each province.

“The cumulative number of excess deaths from natural causes since 3 May 2020 had reached more than 125 000 by the 23rd January 2021.”

However, in the most recent week, there has been an apparent decline in the surge.

The council regularly publishes the report on weekly deaths in South Africa, including both natural death caused by diseases and other medical conditions and unnatural deaths registered on the national population register.

“These are used to estimate the actual number of deaths that have occurred in the country and calculate the number of excess deaths over and above the numbers that would be expected had the historical mortality trends before the COVID-19 pandemic continued,” SAMRC explained.

According to SAMRC’s Chief Specialist Scientist, Professor Debbie Bradshaw, the timing and geographic pattern leave no room to question whether the spike in excess deaths is associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Unfortunately, it will probably be some years before we have the information about the medical cause of death and so we cannot distinguish between deaths directly associated with COVID-19 and those that may have resulted due to the health system being overburdened,” said Bradshaw.

“While we are cautiously optimistic that the decrease in week three represents a real change and indicates the turning of in excess mortality in the current wave of the pandemic, the trend will become clearer with the data for week four, to be released by the SAMRC on 3 February 2021.”

SAMRC President and CEO, Professor Glenda Gray, said tracking mortality enabled South Africa to be one of the few middle-income countries able to trace excess deaths associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The team is collaborating with the Department of Health and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases to set up a data linkage project to improve the reports of the numbers of confirmed COVID-19 deaths for the country,” Gray added.

The Department of Health has discouraged the use of Ivermectin vaccine for management of COVID-19, until the study on its efficacy and safety is concluded.

In a statement on Thursday, department spokesperson Popo Maja said that the National Essential Medicines List Committee (NEMLC) COVID-19 Sub-Committee has carefully considered all available evidence on the treatment or prevention of COVID-19 with Ivermectin.

“Currently, there is insufficient evidence to recommend Ivermectin for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19. Some studies have suggested that Ivermectin may be of benefit of management of COVID-19, however the evidence that is currently available is preliminary and of low quality,” Maja said.

Maja noted that studies vary widely in terms of disease severity of participants, medicines, with which Ivermectin was compared and additional medicines that participants received.

“Several studies are currently underway exploring efficacy and safety of Ivermectin in the management of COVID-19. The outcomes of these studies will provide the department with more scientific data to make informed decisions on the usage of Ivermectin to manage the pandemic.

“As new data becomes available, the sub-committee will continuously review and amend the recommendations accordingly. In the meantime, we discourage the use of Ivermectin outside of well-conducted randomised controlled trials,” he said.

The sub-committee remains committed to an evidence-based approach to the selection of safe and effective medicines for management of COVID-19, Maja added.

Government will use an electronic system to keep track of everyone who gets the COVID-19 vaccine as South Africa gears up for its historical mass vaccination.

The Department of Health’s Acting Chief Operating Officer (COO), Milani Wolmarans, said the Electronic Vaccine Data System (EVDS), will allow the department to capture all relevant data associated with the administration of the vaccine.

“The system is a data-secure platform built with an enterprise architecture that complies with national and international security standards,” Wolmarans explained.

The COO announced this during a public health webinar chaired by Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, on COVID-19 vaccine inoculation on Wednesday.

Mkhize confirmed that the first consignment of one million COVID-19 vaccines is expected to land on South African shores on Monday, 1 February 2020.

According to Wolmarans, the department will start enrolling healthcare workers for vaccination via an online app.

This will be followed by another step where essential workers will receive a message with a scheduled appointment.

“The healthcare worker vaccine, in this case for phase one, will then go to the vaccination site with their ID book and medical aid details if they’re on medical aid,” she said.

“They will also receive an SMS which will have a vaccination code, which they will show to the vaccinator to confirm they’re eligible to receive the vaccine and confirm consent.”

Also, healthcare professionals will then receive another SMS on when to come back for the second jab after which they will receive a vaccination certification.

“This is the whole process of EVDS in terms of supporting the vaccine administration.”

The acting COO said the system is linked to supply chain management to ensure that there are enough doses to inoculate the vaccines when they arrive at the local vaccination service site.

The department will also launch an online vaccine self-registration aimed at healthcare workers that can be accessed via a cellphone or computer.

“It captures basic information to assign you or tell you which vaccination site to go as well as on which date to go,” she said.

“If you register on this platform, you’ll get an appointment.”

Wolmarans is urging all clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers from both the public and private sectors to register online.

“This will allow us to communicate with you when and where you can receive your vaccine,” she added.

She said the department will embark on extensive communication to inform these essential workers as soon as the portal is ready to go live.

The Health Department says there is no need to wrap coffins in plastic when someone has passed away due to COVID-19.

The department said biohazard stickers, the wearing of full personal protective equipment (PPE) by funeral directors and sanitising the gravesite or mourners’ clothes is also not necessary.

The department has shed light on this matter after receiving reports of coffins of people, who died of COVID-19, being covered with plastic.

The department has since convened a meeting with interested and affected parties.

“The Department of Health has issued health directions on the management of the human remains of people who died of COVID-19.

“We do not prescribe the covering of coffins with plastics, the use of biohazard stickers or the wearing of full PPE by funeral directors or sanitising of the graves or clothes of people attending the funeral. It is unnecessary,” the department said.

The department said these extra measures are applicable to all burials and not only COVID-19 deaths.

“The public and the [funeral] industry must note that these measures prescribed are evidence-based and may change, as and when new evidence is presented.”

The department has also cited the revised guidance from the World Health Organisation, which indicates that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from human remains has not been proven.

“Therefore, the department is in the process of reviewing the requirements of a body bag for burial to align with current evidence.

“Human remains can be buried either in a body bag or be wrapped in a shroud or blanket. The body bag can be used for medical reasons or the family may decide to bury using these body bags.”

In addition to the current directions, the department has issued regulations governing the establishments of funeral undertakers’ premises and mortuaries, the conveyance of human remains, burial, cremation, exhumation, reburials and general provisions.

“The human remains should only be conveyed to the deceased’s home on the day of the burial and viewing is only allowed under the controlled environment within a mortuary or funeral undertaker’s premises.”

The department said these measures are still necessary to control the spread of COVID-19 amongst mourners.

Members of the public wishing to exhume human remains must follow the provisions mentioned in the legislation.

These include getting authorisation from the relevant government and municipality; or by court order.

“Therefore, the illegal exhumation of human remains is prohibited and is punishable by law,” the department said.

Government has appealed to all citizens to observe the requirements to combat the spread of the disease.

No person, insured or uninsured, will be expected to pay when they access the COVID-19 vaccination.

This is according to Health Department Technical Adviser, Dr Aquina Thulare, who said 40 million South Africans need to be vaccinated in South Africa to ensure that the population has the immunity it needs to fight COVID-19, which has already claimed over 42 000 lives in the country.

“So, vaccination will be free at the point of service,” she said on Wednesday during a webinar on COVID-19 vaccination.

According to Thulare, out of 40 million people that require the jab, only 7.1 million are insured by private-sector medical schemes, while 32.9 million are uninsured.

Meanwhile, 350 000 out of 1.2 million public servants are covered by medical aids.

“The vaccine itself has been designated as a public good and will be delivered free at the point of care and delivery is based on the principles of social solidary so that we look after each other in our society,” she explained.

Thulare said the funding for the vaccine will be predominantly from the fiscus but “augmented” by private funding sources.

She reiterated the government’s position of being the sole purchaser and driver of the vaccination programme.

“Government will ensure that we’ll do this at the lowest possible price that we can negotiate,” she added.

Meanwhile, she said an identified entity will receive the vaccine and act as a central distributor for the vaccination on behalf of government and will recover costs on behalf of the State.

Electronic Vaccine Data System

She said the Electronic Vaccine Data System (EVDS) will ensure that accredited facilities are captured to harmonise the supply of vaccines, pre-booking system and inoculation itself.

The EVDS has been launched to enable the department to capture all relevant data associated with the administration of the vaccine.

Also, Thulare said government will also look at ways of recovering costs from insured patients.

The Adviser said that those who are covered by medical aid, funding will be derived from medical schemes, even though it will be administered for free at the point of service.

“In the private sectors and providers including pharmacies, that want to provide service for insured persons, they will procure the vaccine from the central distributor through their wholesalers using a single exit price.”

Prescribed Minimum Benefit

She said the private sector providers will then bill medical schemes for the cost of the vaccines and administration fee, which will be paid through the Prescribed Minimum Benefit (PMB).

“We’ve already declared the vaccination for COVID-19 as a PMB, which means schemes are obliged to pay for this service,” she said, adding that the covered patients will also need to go through pre-registration and booking.

Meanwhile, the 32.9 million people who are uninsured including the healthcare workers, government will provide funding.

“Our uninsured persons will need to have their identity documents if they’re not on the health patient registering system that is already in existence in our facilities.”

Herd immunity

Businesses may also opt to contribute to ensuring that ‘herd immunity’ is achieved by covering a population of unemployed, for instance, said Thulare.

According to the World Health Organisation, herd immunity is the indirect protection from an infectious disease that happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through the previous infection.

“If communities or employees are vaccinated, they’re going to receive their vaccination free at the point of service and the business or corporate will bear the cost.”

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has confirmed that the first consignment of one million COVID-19 vaccines is expected to land on South African shores on Monday, which the healthcare workers will be the first in line to get vaccinated.

Chairperson of the African Union (AU), President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on the World Trade Organization to waiver specific Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) obligations related to the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 for a defined period.

Together with India, South Africa has proposed a TRIPS waiver in response to the pandemic.

“We need more countries to support this initiative. This would enable countries in Africa and elsewhere to access active pharmaceutical ingredients and benefit from technology transfer, including the know-how to manufacture vaccines in Africa at a cheaper cost,” he said.

On Wednesday afternoon, the President addressed a webinar on the Africa COVID-19 Vaccine Financing and Development Strategy, which was attended by Ministers of Health and Ministers of Finance of the AU Member States as well as experts, private sector leaders, and civil society representatives.

“The task before us is to step up global solidarity to ensure equitable access to the vaccines. All countries must get vaccines and must get them speedily.

“It is vital to the global containment of COVID-19 that vaccination takes place in all countries and among all populations. No part of the world will be safe from COVID until all parts of the world are safe,” the President said.

He noted challenges of accessing vaccines for the Global South, particularly for Africa.

“The developed North, which has substantial financial resources, has purchased the largest stocks, while we in Africa are struggling to get our fair share. The painful irony is that some of the clinical trials for these vaccines were carried out in Africa.

“In other cases, vaccines are packaged right here on the continent, yet we struggle to access them for our populations,” President Ramaphosa said.

He said vaccine prices are high, and many countries may not afford to vaccinate enough of their population to achieve herd immunity.

Effort to secure COVID-19 vaccine

Earlier this month, the President convened a meeting of the African Union Bureau to discuss the work undertaken by the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team.

“It is estimated that Africa will only be able to access around 20% of vaccines needed through the COVAX facility. We therefore found it necessary to complement this facility to ensure health workers are vaccinated soonest and countries reach herd immunity faster.

“We have secured a provisional 270 million vaccine doses for African countries through the Task Team. At least 50 million will be available from April to June 2021,” the President said.

These doses are from three major suppliers namely, Pfizer, AstraZeneca through the Serum Institute of India and Johnson & Johnson.

As a result of the high cost of vaccines, the Task Team has arranged with Afreximbank to support member states who want to access these vaccines based on a whole-of-Africa approach.

“Should countries submit firm offers, Afreximbank has committed to provide advance procurement commitment guarantees of up to US$2 billion to the manufacturers on behalf of member states.

“The AU team and the World Bank are collaborating to ensure that member states can have access to further funding,” the President said.

Ramaphosa expressed appreciation for MTN’S offer to donate $25 million to the vaccine programme of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to immunise health workers in Africa.

“This is solidarity in action. We call upon other companies, both of African origin and offshore companies that do business in Africa, to do what MTN has done to contribute financially to enable African countries to immunise their target groups,” the President said.