South Africa has as of Wednesday recorded a staggering 17 710 new cases – bringing the country’s cumulative total of COVID-19 cases to 1 039 161, indicating a positivity rate of 33%. Several experts appeared on SABC this morning to discuss the status quo and the vaccine rollout. (Watch below.) “The positivity rate, being an […]

A new cohort of health workers is set to assist South Africa’s already constrained health system that is in the throes of a second COVID-19 wave, at the start of the New Year. Expressing concern by the rising numbers of healthcare professionals becoming infected with COVID-19, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced that the Department of […]

South Africa has breached the one million mark of COVID-19 cases in South Africa, after 9 502 new cases were reported on Sunday, bringing the cumulative total to 1 004 413 cases. A total of 214 COVID-19 related deaths were reported, with 123 in the Eastern Cape, 17 in Gauteng, 13 in KwaZulu-Natal, five in […]

The World AIDS Day commemoration of 2020 took place in the midst of a global pandemic. It served as another reminder that people are not only susceptible to pathogens, but to the political, social and economic inequities that determine vulnerability to infections. HIV remains a major global public health challenge and COVID-19 has added to […]

The South African government may have to review current lockdown restrictions and consider further measures to curb the exponential spread of the COVID-19 virus, says Health Minister, Dr Zwelini Mkhize. He warned that within days the number of daily positive cases recorded in SA will surpass that of the peak during the first wave. The […]

Only a massive global rollout of an effective vaccine can end the Covid-19 pandemic in the short term. The vaccine is being rolled out in the United Kingdom and United States. It’s expected to become available in Europe imminently. This is where things stand in South Africa. The Department of Health is playing its cards […]

The novel Coronavirus continues to spread rapidly amid the second wave of infections, with the country recording another 9 131 confirmed cases in the last 24 hours. This is after South Africa topped the 10 000 mark of new cases on Wednesday — for the first time since August. Meanwhile, 184 people succumbed to the respiratory […]

Epidemiologist and Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 in South Africa, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, has been awarded the 2020 John Maddox Prize. Prof Karim was named joint winner with Dr Anthony Fauci from the US. President Cyril Ramaphosa was one of the first to congratulate Prof Karim, saying: “It is an honour […]

With some viruses, once you have been infected and have developed antibodies, you will be immune to that virus for life. Past infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, does not, as far as is known at this stage, guarantee protection against future infections. It’s not absolutely clear whether this virus may become dormant […]

South Africa is set to receive initial vaccines from the COVAX facility to cover 10% of its population in the early part of 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced to the nation on Monday evening. The President said SA concluded all the necessary processes to ensure its participation in the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Global Vaccine […]

The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) in South Africa has made it clear that it will rule against companies that make unproven medical claims, even if those companies are not members of the ARB. ARB is a self-regulating authority, and its members join it voluntarily. There has been an ongoing debate dating back to the ARB’s […]

South Africa has officially hit the second wave, with 6 709 COVID-19 new cases reported in the last 24 hours pushing the total number of cases to 828 598. In a special briefing on Wednesday night, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said the country now meets the resurgence criteria formulated by scientists and modelling teams. […]

Vaccine hesitancy is a severe threat to global health, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The term refers to the delay in acceptance or the refusal of vaccines, despite the availability of vaccination services. It’s a serious risk to the people who aren’t getting vaccinated as well as the wider community. Vaccine hesitancy is […]

The number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa has topped 800 000, after 4 400 people were confirmed to have contracted the virus. This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases to 800 872 since the first case was reported in March this year. Meanwhile, 94 more people succumbed to the respiratory disease which pushes the death toll to […]

South Africa faces a quadruple burden of disease: HIV, tuberculosis (TB), non-communicable diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and injuries. South Africa has more people living with HIV than anywhere else in the world. Around 13.5% of the country’s total population has HIV. Many of these patients are co-infected with TB and are also at […]

There are 3 069 more people who contracted Coronavirus in South Africa, which pushes the cumulative total of COVID-19 cases to 778 571. Meanwhile, 88 more people succumbed to the respiratory disease, which brings the deaths to 21 289. Of the latest fatalities, 33 were recorded in the Eastern Cape, 25 in Free State, 18 in […]

Three vaccine breakthroughs have sparked hope that the end of the Covid-19 pandemic is close. But vaccinating tens of millions of South Africans is going to be difficult. It would require a massive logistical effort in 2021 for life to return to the way it was before Covid-19. We now have effective Covid vaccines from […]

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, says his department is closely monitoring the Eastern Cape to quell the resurgence of cluster outbreaks in the province. Mkhize is on a two-day visit to the Eastern Cape, which kicked off on Thursday and is set to wrap up on Friday. The visit, Mkhize said, is set to focus […]

South Africa has a long tradition of using plants for medicinal purposes. Some of these, such as Aloe ferox (bitter aloe), Sutherlandia frutescens (cancer bush), Aspalathus linearis (rooibos tea) and Kiggelaria africana, have been studied as sources of useful compounds. But most still need to be scientifically validated as treatments for particular diseases. Medicinal plants are […]

Another 2 270 people have contracted Coronavirus, bringing the national total to 767 679 since the start of the pandemic. Official statistics show that 20 903 people have died from COVID-19 related illnesses, with 58 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours. Of the additional fatalities, 28 were recorded in the Eastern Cape, 13 in Free […]

The interim results of an Africa-wide study of hospitalised Covid-19 patients shows that the continent is facing far higher mortality rates in intensive care units than other parts of the world, and that the higher death rates are best explained by scarce resources. Covid-19 has produced huge volumes of data in a short period of time, but […]

The number of detected COVID-19 cases has risen to 759 658 after 2 514 infections were reported by the Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, on Thursday. A further 115 people succumbed to the novel Coronavirus, which pushes the death toll to 20 671 since the outbreak. The Eastern Cape logged the highest number of additional deaths […]

The number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa is now 754 256 after 1 987 new infections were identified on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the death toll now sits at 20 433 after 119 people succumbed to the respiratory illness caused by the Coronavirus. Of the additional deaths, 42 were reported in Gauteng, 36 in the Eastern […]

After months of battling the COVID-19 pandemic, President Cyril Ramaphosa says the country is now transitioning from relief to recovery. Writing in this week’s edition of his newsletter, the President said when the National State of Disaster was declared in March, the immediate priority was to contain the spread of the virus and provide emergency […]

The cumulative number of detected COVID-19 cases is now 708 359, with 85 more COVID-19 related deaths reported. In the last 24 hours, 2 055 new cases were reported. Of the 85 deaths reported, eight occurred in the past 48 hours. The 85 deaths bring the national COVID-19 death toll to 18 741. “We extend […]