It’s been a while, but President Cyril Ramaphosa held a ‘family meeting’ in South Africa this evening (Sunday, 30 May 2021), addressing the nation on his concerns in containing the Covid-19 Pandemic, and announcing a move to Adjusted Alert Level 2 with effect from tomorrow (Monday 31 May). What does Level 2 Lockdown in South […]

South Africa recorded 4 623 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as the positivity rate increased to 10.1%. This means the country now has 1 645 555 detected infections since the outbreak. Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said a further 102 Coronavirus-related deaths have been reported, bringing the tally to 56 077. Two provinces recorded double-digit deaths […]

Popular Afrikaans actor Ben Kruger sadly passed away yesterday at the age of 64, from Covid-19 related complications. The actor was best known as ‘Oom Okkie’ to fans of kykNET soapie, Binnelanders. Tributes have poured in from heartbroken South Africans, led by Karen Meiring, M-Net Director: kykNET channel, who said on Wednesday: “Today we keep […]

South Africa’s elite athletes will be vaccinated through the Sisonke Study ahead of international sporting events, including the Tokyo Games kicking off in July. This comes after the approval granted by the South African Health Product Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to make available a “modest” number of the remaining COVID-19 Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine doses […]

Nearly 170,000 people received their first vaccine dose in the first week of the official rollout. That’s not bad, but we have to scale up quickly. After all, the health department has had months to plan this. Taking into account the Sisonke study and several other clinical trials that have been run in South Africa, […]

Currently, Covid-19 vaccine sites will only vaccinate if a person has an appointment through the Electronic Vaccine Data System (EVDS). After registering online, one must wait for an SMS with the time and location for vaccination. Walk-ins are not accepted. But on Tuesday, things did not go according to this plan at the Discovery Health […]

Following Covid-19 cluster outbreaks in public schools, the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) has pulled the plug on all contact sports, with immediate effect. The decision was taken this morning after a virtual meeting, according to the Department of Basic Education (DBE). Non-contact sports training is permitted to continue… provided all safety protocols are observed […]

Living legend Emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu received his Covid-19 vaccination today, with the Western Cape Government hoping the staunch vaccine supporter’s participation in their vaccination drive will encourage others to follow suit. The Western Cape Government confirmed on social media: “Earlier today, Archbishop Emeritus, Desmond Tutu and his wife, Leah Tutu, were vaccinated as part […]

While the number of COVID-19 cases has been steadily increasing, South Africa has not hit the third wave yet. According to the Department of Health, the number of new infections peaked from 8 593 cases between 26 April to 2 May. Between 3 May and 9 May, cases rose to 12 531, constituting a 46% […]

South Africa has recorded 1 778 new COVID-19 cases with the cumulative number of cases identified standing at 1 596 595. In a statement released on Sunday, Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said the number of tests conducted to date is 10 887 709. Of these, 26 098 tests were conducted since the last […]

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Africa’s Ministry of Health said on Saturday it had detected the first four cases of a new coronavirus variant that emerged in India, and was responsible for a surge of infections and deaths in the Asian country. The four positive cases were detected in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, and all […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa says a proposal by South Africa at the World Trade Organisation to waiver specific Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) obligations related to the manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines is now supported by over 100 countries. Responding to oral questions in the National Assembly on Thursday, the President said: “We want to […]

President Cyril Ramaphosa has welcomed the support of United States President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris for a temporary and targeted waiver of intellectual property protections that apply to COVID-19 vaccines. The United States government on Wednesday said that the COVID-19 pandemic is a global health crisis that calls for extraordinary measures. The United […]

South Africa’s Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has reiterated that the variant currently wreaking havoc in India has not been identified in South Africa… although specialists are awaiting the results of some samples. He said that South Africa’s teams remain on high alert to survey, detect and contain the spread of COVID-19 in general, with […]

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Africa has allocated an extra R4-billion ($276-million) to buy COVID-19 vaccines and extend a special distress grant to thousands of people hit by the pandemic, in a Special Appropriation Bill tabled by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni on Tuesday. The bill, expected to be debated with the National Treasury in a […]

There have been many unpleasant milestones since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. For South Africa, 3 May is a particularly important one. It is one year since the day in 2020 when, according to the Medical Research Council (MRC), we reached the “point of rapid increase in excess deaths”. Over the past year, approximately 150,000 […]

(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc will ship 4.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to South Africa by June, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement on Sunday. The first batch of 325,260 doses is arriving in the country Sunday night, Mkhize said, adding that they will be expecting same number of doses to arrive on […]

Professor Salim Abdool Karim has been appointed to the newly formed World Health Organisation (WHO) Science Council. Prof Abdool Karim presided over South Africa’s Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on COVID-19 before he stepped down in March. Under his leadership, MAC positioned South Africa as one of the leading nations in the emergency response to the […]

The SA Cabinet has welcomed the recommendation by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority to lift the suspension of the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) Sisonke Vaccination Programme. The suspension in SA followed the suspension of the J&J vaccination rollout programme in the USA after six people, who received the J&J vaccine, developed a rare type […]

ANC Chief Whip Pemmy Majodina says she “regrets” the involvement of her son, Mkhonto weSizwe Majodina, in the PPE Caucus procurement deal… which supplied thermometers worth R52 500 to ANC Constituency offices in January 2021, as reported by today’s Sunday Times, 18 April 2021. In a statement issued by the Chief Whip’s office, she said […]

The South African government has officially launched the COVID-19 vaccine online registration for the public as the Department of Health gears up for phase two of the country’s vaccine rollout. According to Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, the Electronic Vaccination Data System (EVDS) is now available to the general public and all citizens aged 60 […]

South Africa performed 34 971 COVID-19 tests in the last 24 hours, with 1 599 new cases, representing a 4.6% positivity rate. Meanwhile, according to Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, 75 more people succumbed to COVID-19 related complications. This means the country now has 1 561 559 confirmed Coronavirus infections, while the death toll stands at 53 […]

A total of 23 013 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, with 931 new cases, representing a 4% positivity rate, the Health Department said on Sunday. Meanwhile, a further 66 people died due to Coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 53 322 to date. According to Health Minister, Dr Zweli […]

Popular South African general practitioner and well known radio host Dr Sindi van Zyl, has sadly passed away after battling Covid-19 for much of this year. Earlier this month, Dr Sindi’s husband Dr Marinus van Zyl, issued a plea for donations to help cover her hospital costs after she’d been on ventilator support for over […]

Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has announced that the second phase of South Africa’s vaccination rollout will begin on 17 May. This, he said, is thanks to the millions of vaccine doses that are expected to land in South Africa in the next coming weeks. Dr Mkhize said the country has secured a combined 51 […]