Category: COVID-19 Corona Virus

Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, on Monday received results confirming that she has tested positive for COVID-19.

The Minister’s positive result comes in the wake of the detection of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant, which the World Health Organisation has declared a “variant of concern”.

The Minister has immediately started isolating and recovering at home, where she will continue carrying out her duties without disruptions.

“It all started with a scratchy throat and I didn’t suspect anything, but when it persisted, I took the COVID-19 test yesterday and received the results this morning. I am feeling well and I can attribute this to the fact that the virus found me fully vaccinated,” the Minister said.

As the Vooma Vaccination Weekend (3-5 December) approaches, the Minister has called on South Africans to take the virus seriously and to follow COVID-19 protocols at all times by wearing a mask, washing and sanitizing hands and keeping a social distance.

“As the President emphasised last night, vaccination is the most powerful tool we have and it is not too late to get vaccinated before the fourth wave hits us hard,” Zulu said.

South Africa has reported 2 858 new COVID-19 cases, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) figures.

This was 362 fewer infections logged than the previous day.

According to the data, this takes the total number of registered cases involving COVID-19 to 2 961 406 since the outbreak.

Gauteng remains the hardest-hit province after 2 308 were confirmed to have contracted the virus, followed by 148 cases in the Western Cape, 102 in KwaZulu-Natal, 91 in the North West, 89 in Mpumalanga, 51 in Limpopo, 25 in Free State, 23 in the Northern Cape and 21 in the Eastern Cape.

Addressing the nation on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said identification of Omicron, which is also known as B.1.1.529, a “Variant of Concern” coincides with a sudden rise in COVID-19.

“This increase has been centred in Gauteng, although cases are also rising in other provinces.”

Citing the recent statistics, the President said the country recorded an average of 1 600 new cases in the last seven days, compared to just 500 new daily infections in the previous week.

“The proportion of COVID-19 tests that are positive has risen from around 2% to 9% in less than a week. This is an extremely sharp rise in infections in a short space of time,” he added.

He announced South Africa is expected to experience the fourth wave early in December.

Meanwhile, the number of patients who are receiving hospital treatment has risen to 2 232, of which 18 were admitted in the past 24 hours.

In addition, the death toll is now sitting at 89 797 after six people succumbed to the disease, while the country has a recovery rate of 96.2%.

According to the Department of Health, South Africa administered 11 898 COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday, of which 2 546 were given to children.

This means the country has now distributed 25 288 417 doses to date.

Meanwhile, South Africa is now home to 14 296 371 fully vaccinated adults, while 417 854 adolescents have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Globally, as of 26 November 2021, there have been 259 502 031 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5 183 003 deaths, reported to the World Health Organisation.

South Africa recorded 687 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the majority of which were reported in Gauteng.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), of the new infections, 545 were logged in Gauteng, followed by 32 in the North West, 31 in KwaZulu-Natal and 23 in the Western Cape.

The NICD said the proportion of positive new cases is 3.4%, which is higher than the 2.8% that was recorded on Saturday, while the seven-day average had also increased from the previous day.

This means there are now 2 929 862 confirmed infections since the outbreak.

In addition, two more people lost their lives to COVID-19, pushing the official death toll to 89 574 to date.

Furthermore, 13 patients were admitted to hospital on Sunday.

The recovery rate is sitting at 96.3% after 2 821 141 people beat COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the country administered 11 083 new COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday, 2 034 of which were given to children.

The data reveals that there are now 24 646 053 distributed jabs to 16 223 469 people to date.

In addition, the Department of Health has fully vaccinated 13 876 443 or 34.6% of the adult population since the start of the inoculation programme.

Globally, as of 19 November 2021, there have been 255 324 963 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5 127 696 deaths reported to the World Health Organisation.

South Africa now has 16 102 982 or 40.46% of its adult population who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine since the start of the inoculation programme.

This comes as the country administered 132 316 jabs in the past 24 hours, which pushes the total number of doses to 24 346 917.

According to the Department of Health’s latest data, 13 673 027 or 34.1% over 18s are now fully vaccinated, while 319 797 or 5% of children aged between 12 and 17 have received the first shot of the Pfizer vaccine.

Meanwhile, the number of booster shots of the Johnson & Johnson given to healthcare workers under the Sisonke Study has risen to 56 881.

In addition, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), reported 566 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 926 914.

The data shows that Gauteng accounted for the highest number of new infections after 332 people were confirmed to have contracted the virus.

The province is followed by 45 additional infections in the Western Cape, 38 in Limpopo, 37 in KwaZulu-Natal and 34 in the North West.

“This increase represents a 1.6% positivity rate,” the NICD said, adding that the seven-day moving average daily number of cases has peaked.

The NICD, referring to the Department of Health’s statistics, said 11 people succumbed to COVID-19 related complications, bringing the death toll to 89 515.

This is while the country’s hospital admissions rose by 48 since the last reporting cycle.

According to the World Health Organisation, as of 17 November 2021, there have been 254 256 432 confirmed global cases of COVID-19, including 5 112 461 deaths reported.

Government has withdrawn its support and that of South Africa for the Miss South Africa pageant after unsuccessful consultations on persuading the pageant to reconsider its decision to partake in the Miss Universe event scheduled to be held in Israel.

In a statement on Sunday, the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Nathi Mthethwa, said while he appreciates the likely impact on the individual interest of the current Miss South Africa, he strongly believes that the reasons that require her withdrawal from Miss Universe far outweigh individual interests.

“If anything, by withdrawing, Miss South Africa’s reputation and overall standing will be far more advanced in South Africa and internationally in comparison to a once-off event that can prove disastrous to her future and public standing as a young, black woman,” the Minister said.

Government withdrew its support after consultations with the Miss South Africa pageant organisers failed.

“What appeared like engaging, constructive and progressive discussions during initial consultations was later met with an unpleasant demeanour that is intransigent and lacking appreciation of the potential negative impact of such a decision on the reputation and future of a young black woman.

“The atrocities committed by Israel against Palestinians are well documented and government, as the legitimate representative of the people of South Africa, cannot in good conscience associate itself with such,” the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture said.

Mthethwa said government’s first preference was to try to find common ground with the pageant organisers, and to issue a joint media statement.

“This has regrettably been unsuccessful, hence the decision now to publicly distance government and the people of South Africa from Miss SA pageant organisers’ stance on this matter.

“But even so, we still hope some common sense will prevail in the interest of the reigning queen, Lalela Mswane, and we remain open for discussions in that regard,” the Minister said.

Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, says the festive season coupled with the movement of people is expected to trigger the “inevitable” fourth wave of COVID-19 infections.

“This makes it more urgent that more and more people come forward to be vaccinated because we want everybody in our country to be protected from this inevitable fourth wave.

“If we all vaccinate, we can have a safe and enjoyable festive season. We call on all South Africans to head the Vooma [Vaccination Weekend] call and come forward and be vaccinated,” he said.

At least 23 million people in South Africa have received at least one jab with at least 70 000 doing so on Election Day; constituting just under 40% of the country’s adult population.

The Western Cape, Free State, Eastern Cape and Limpopo are close to reaching at least 50% vaccination of their populations.

Some 13 million people are now fully vaccinated.

The Minister said the vaccination rollout plan remains resilient with the department having enough capacity to vaccinate all eligible residents of the country against the virus.

“We can do this by the end of December. Our teams in the provinces are taking vaccines to the people over and above the fixed vaccination sites.

“As we start to use more and more of the one dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine, we will be able to cover more full vaccinations in the next few days and weeks,” he said.

Some 63% of the more COVID-19 vulnerable 60+ age group has been vaccinated; about 57% of those over the age of 50 have been vaccinated.

At least 250 000 children aged between 12 and 17 have now taken the vaccine.

The Minister said the country’s younger population between the ages of 18 and 34 were not taking up vaccination as well as hoped.

“The uptake…is worrisome [and] moving very slowly at the current moment with just under 25%. It is clear that in this population of young adults, fake news on social media is making a huge impact driving away [or] keeping away many of our young adults from vaccination.

“We are hoping that as we get closer to the festive season – because they will be more at risk because of social and entertainment activities – that many more of our young adults will come forward,” he said.

Sisonke study booster shots programme

The Minister revealed that at least 83 000 health workers have registered to participate in the programme.

“Out of those, just over 9 000 have already received their booster doses. We are hoping that all the 500 000 health workers who received the Sisonke one will come forward to participate in the Sisonke Two study.

“The results of this study will give us a better indication of the role of booster doses…how much immunity was waning and if so, how much additional strengthening of immunity will happen after the…booster doses,” he said.

Vaccination certificates

According to the Minister, more than three million vaccination certificates have been downloaded by vaccinated residents since the launch of the Vaccine Certificate system in October.

He added that the QR scanning technology – which allows users to create a code which verifies their inoculation status – is expected to be available from next week.

Minister Phaahla said although the certificates are now available in South Africa, not all countries would be accepting them as proof of inoculation.

“The reason is that countries have to come to an agreement on recognising each other’s certificates. So because this is still new and developing…even from our side we had not yet started negotiating with other countries because…the certificates still needed a lot of improvements.

“There are more security features which will be enhanced during the course of this month so as security features improve…we will be negotiating with countries and multi-lateral bodies,” he said.

Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, says the country did not experience any spikes in COVID-19 infections following the various election campaigns and Election Day.

The Minister was briefing the nation on Friday morning on the country’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the department’s vaccination plan.

“Thus far, 11 days after the election campaign and also…voting day, we have not experienced any super spreader side effects after the campaigns and the election day.

“We were assured by the IEC [Independent Electoral Commission] about the [health related] preparations for the elections but we were concerned about the safety of campaigns by political parties but thus far, not a single district or a province has shown signs of a spike in COVID-19 infections,” Phaahla said.

The Minister added that the department and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) continue to keep a close eye on any potential spikes.

Four week steadiness

According to Minister Phaahla, infection rates and hospitalisations have remained stable with daily infections ranging between 200 and 500.

“The positivity rate has also remained at an average of 1%. As of [Thursday] we still had relatively high 16 000 cases but quite a reduced number compared to the peak of the third wave. Patients in hospital remain high although again, lower than at the peak…just over 3000 patients in hospital with just over 270 in high care and just over 400 in ICUs with around 164 on ventilation,” he said.

The Health Minister said the fatality rate has also come down with reported deaths over the last 24 hours reaching 17 – considerably lower than the at least 300 per day reported during the peak of the third wave.

“But of course, we feel that 17 deaths from COVID is still one too many so at the end we would want to see a situation where nobody dies from this pandemic,” Phaahla said.

Fourth wave warning

Dr Phaahla warned that although COVID-19 related statistics remain low, the existence of the virus remains and it is “still causing a lot of harm”.

“A resurgence of infections which will introduce a fourth wave is expected as we can see in other countries – especially in some parts of Europe. Our national team is working with provincial teams to prepare for the inevitable fourth wave. We have to do everything possible to make sure we can delay it and make sure that even when it comes, it must have far less impact,” he said.

The Minister assured that health facilities are gearing up to:

• Ensure oxygen supply through Afrox which has made contingency plans.
• Making sure that beds are available.
• Securing equipment such as ventilators, PPE and other consumables.

He said the fourth wave is expected either in mid to late December or even in early January.

“While no-one can tell with certainty as to when this fourth wave will be coming, there’s no doubt that it will come driven by movement of people but also driven by variants.

“Our genomic sequencing scientists are monitoring any variants of concern…thus far they have not reported any alarm in terms of variants. They always tell us that the mutations are happening…but the question is, are they variants of concern? Thus far they have said not yet,” he said.

World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa Regional Director, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, says the COVAX facility is working to secure agreements for the production of syringes as shortages loom.

She was speaking during the organisation’s press briefing on the continent’s fight against COVID-19.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) the world faces a shortfall of “up to 2.2 billion auto-disable syringes” for COVID-19 vaccination and routine immunisation in 2022.

Moeti said although COVID-19 vaccine shipments have increased on the continent, the looming threat of syringe shortages could “paralyse progress” in the vaccination of communities.

“Already some African countries…have experienced delays in receiving vaccines and unless drastic measures are taken to boost syringe production, Africa faces a crisis.

“Syringe production both globally and locally in Africa, must be stepped up fast – countless African lives depend on it. The COVAX facility has been working to address this problem by securing agreements with manufacturers for the needle syringes and through better planning to avoid delivery [of vaccines] outpacing the supply of syringes,” she said.

According to Moeti, the UNICEF shortfall of up to 2.2 billion auto-disable syringes for COVID-19 vaccination and routine immunisation in 2022.

Africa’s fight against COVID-19

Moeti said 29 300 new COVID-19 cases were reported on the continent which indicates a 30% drop in new cases compared to last week.

However, ten countries are facing a resurgence of the virus.

In total, the virus has claimed more than 217 000 deaths and nearly 8.5 million cases have been reported

She says at least 77 million or 6% of people on the continent have been fully vaccinated – a far cry from higher income countries who have vaccinated more than 40% of their populations.

She said this, in part, points to some African countries needing to improve their readiness for vaccination rollouts.

With 50 million doses arriving in Africa this month alone and more expected to arrive, Moeti said the WHO is assisting African countries to step up their roll out plans.

“The WHO is conducting emergency support missions to help support five countries that are lagging behind, speed up and improve speed up and improve their COVID-19 rollouts with plans for missions for another 10 countries. Our experts are working with local authorities and partners on the ground to address the reasons for any hold ups and how best to address them,” she said.

South Africa has recorded 533 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2 921 114.

The Department of Health said the latest figures represent a 1.7% positivity rate.

The department said a further 55 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing the total fatalities to 89 104 to date.

“There has been an increase of 30 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours,” the department said on Thursday.

According to the department, 18 471 818 tests have been conducted in both the public and private sectors.

In the private sector, 9 953 474 tests have been conducted, while 8 518 344 tests were conducted in the public sector.

The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (28%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal accounting for 17%.

The Western Cape accounted for 14% of the new cases, Free State 10%, Northern Cape 8%, Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga 7% each, North West 5% and Limpopo 4%.

The cumulative number of cases by province is Gauteng 150, Eastern Cape 36, North West 27, Free State 53, Northern Cape 40, Limpopo 23, Mpumalanga 35, Western Cape 76 and KwaZulu-Natal 93.

The department reminded the nation to always adhere to preventative measures to limit the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19 by getting vaccinated for COVID-19; wearing a mask properly to cover the nose and mouth; opting to gather in ventilated spaces; avoiding unnecessary gatherings; keeping a social distance of one meter or more and washing hands regularly with soap and water.

South Africa distributed 11 721 COVID-19 jabs to children between the ages of 12 and 17 on Monday.

According to the Department of Health, 168 445 shots were given to adults across the country, pushing the total number of doses to 180 166 in the past 24 hours.

This means the country has now administered 21 514 033 doses since the start of the rollout programme.

In addition, South Africa is now home to 11 697 646 fully vaccinated adults, while 61 997 single Pfizer shots have been given to adolescents.

Meanwhile, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), 4 477 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, with 146 new cases, representing a 1% positivity rate.

The highest number of new infections were logged in Gauteng (44), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (38), Western Cape (24) and Northern Cape (11), while the rest of the provinces recorded under 10 additional cases each.

In addition, nine more people succumbed to the disease, pushing the death toll to 88 934 to date, while hospital admissions increased by 24.

The NICD reminded citizens to adhere to preventative measures to help limit the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.

The institute is encouraging people to vaccinate for COVID-19, wear masks to cover the nose, gather in ventilated spaces, avoid unnecessary gatherings, keep a social distance of one metre or more and wash hands regularly with soap and water.