COVID-19 spike worsens Africa’s severe poverty, hunger woes
3 years ago

COVID-19 spike worsens Africa’s severe poverty, hunger woes

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The ECA now warns that the economic effects already felt since the pandemic began in 2020 “will push an additional 5 to 29 million below the extreme poverty line.” “If the impact of the pandemic is not limited by 2021, an additional 59 million people could suffer the same fate, which would bring the total number of extremely poor Africans to 514 million people,” the agency says. "The economic disruption wrought by COVID-19 has pushed hunger crises off a cliff,” Sean Granville-Ross, Africa regional director for the nonprofit charitable organization Mercy Corps told The Associated Press. Granville-Ross says his organization in 2021 saw “an alarming spike in need” in regions such as the Sahel, West Africa East Africa and southern Africa where some countries were already experiencing humanitarian crises and conflict before COVID-19. Renewed travel restrictions and possible lockdowns “will only push millions more people to poverty and undermine the slight economic recovery we have started to see,” Granville-Ross says.

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History of this topic

Noah Lyles' collapse underscores our collective COVID denial
4 months, 2 weeks ago

Noah Lyles' collapse underscores our collective COVID denial

Salon  

The 2024 Olympic Games are serving up some less-than-subtle metaphors for how poorly we handle public health. Just after winning a bronze medal in the much-anticipated men's 200-meter race, U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles collapsed on the track in exhaustion — not just because he’d completed a brutal run in just 19.7 seconds, finishing third, but also because he was sick …

COVID-19 makes a wintertime comeback
1 year ago

COVID-19 makes a wintertime comeback

Hindustan Times  

Germany is sniffling and coughing again. "We no longer see severe cases," he said, adding just one patient, aged 94, had to go to the hospital due to COVID-19. With as much as 10% of the country sick, according to Germany's Robert Koch Institute for public health, offices and services are struggling to stay open. Other forms of PCR testing …

COVID-19 no longer a global emergency, says WHO
1 year, 7 months ago

COVID-19 no longer a global emergency, says WHO

The Hindu  

The World Health Organization said on May 5 that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies worldwide and killed at least 7 million people worldwide. “It's with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus …

COVID-19 is no longer a global emergency, World Health Organization says
1 year, 7 months ago

COVID-19 is no longer a global emergency, World Health Organization says

LA Times  

The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed at least 7 million people worldwide. “It’s with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “That does not …

The long shadow of Covid-19 myths
1 year, 8 months ago

The long shadow of Covid-19 myths

BBC  

The long shadow of Covid-19 myths Kang-Chun Cheng The reasons for vaccine hesitancy in Africa are complex, but it remains a challenge in the fight against Covid-19 Like in many countries, misinformation about Covid-19 has circulated widely in Morocco during the pandemic. "I have never dissuaded any Africans, nor any other person in the world from taking Covid-19 vaccines," Locht …

Lessons From COVID: What The World Needs to Learn to Tackle Future Pandemics
1 year, 11 months ago

Lessons From COVID: What The World Needs to Learn to Tackle Future Pandemics

The Quint  

The costly lesson from COVID: why elimination should be the default global strategy for future pandemics Getty Images Imagine it is 2030. An upgraded pandemic response to eliminate at source The process by which the WHO currently decides whether to declare a public health emergency of international concern has drawn criticism for being too slow. Elimination makes sense for other …

COVID vaccination rates have dropped 50% in Africa, WHO says
2 years, 2 months ago

COVID vaccination rates have dropped 50% in Africa, WHO says

LA Times  

The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses given in Africa has dropped by more than 50% over the last three months, the World Health Organization said Thursday, even though less than a quarter of all Africans have been vaccinated. Despite increased availability of vaccines on the continent, Africa still lags far behind the global average, with only 24% of the population …

‘Africa on its own’: Little help for 1.3 billion people in epidemics, says official
2 years, 2 months ago

‘Africa on its own’: Little help for 1.3 billion people in epidemics, says official

LA Times  

Africa must plan to respond effectively to disease outbreaks without international help, a top public health official said Wednesday, warning that the continent of 1.3 billion people is “on its own” during pandemics. As assistance often never materializes, African nations must plug gaps in their response to outbreaks such as Ebola in Uganda, said Ahmed Ogwell, acting head of the …

COVID pandemic created immunisation gaps in Africa
2 years, 3 months ago

COVID pandemic created immunisation gaps in Africa

The Hindu  

The COVID pandemic exposed the fault lines in health systems and national routine immunisation programmes around the world. What we do know so far is that the pandemic has resulted in substantial disruptions to national routine immunisation programmes. The pandemic widened immunisation gaps On the continent the pandemic has substantially disrupted national routine immunisation programmes. Charting a way forward The …

Fight to end virus pandemic takes place on UN’s sidelines
2 years, 3 months ago

Fight to end virus pandemic takes place on UN’s sidelines

Associated Press  

UNITED NATIONS — In four days of fiery speeches over war, climate change and the threat of nuclear weapons, one issue felt like an afterthought during this year’s U.N. General Assembly: the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gathered with World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell and others to discuss equitable access …

EXPLAINER: Is COVID-19 winding down? Scientists say no.
2 years, 3 months ago

EXPLAINER: Is COVID-19 winding down? Scientists say no.

Associated Press  

Is the coronavirus on its way out? Topol said the virus “just has too many ways to work around our current strategies, and it’ll just keep finding people, finding them again, and self-perpetuating.” HOW WILL THE VIRUS MUTATE? “Every time we think we’ve seen the peak transmission, peak immune escape properties, the virus exceeds that by another significant notch,” Topol …

Pandemic not over, says WHO as Covid cases rise in 110 countries
2 years, 5 months ago

Pandemic not over, says WHO as Covid cases rise in 110 countries

India Today  

The Covid-19 pandemic is changing but it is not over, the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, cautioning that the cases are on the rise in 110 countries and are being driven mainly by two fast-spreading Omicron sub-variants. "On COVID-19, driven by BA.4 and BA.5 in many places, cases are on the rise in 110 countries, causing …

UN official urges acceleration in coronavirus vaccinations
2 years, 8 months ago

UN official urges acceleration in coronavirus vaccinations

Associated Press  

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. official spearheading global vaccination efforts against the coronavirus said Monday the number of countries where 10% or less of the population has been vaccinated dropped from 34 to 18 since January and called for accelerated progress to end the pandemic. Assistant Secretary-General Ted Chaiban told the U.N. Security Council that with over 6 million lives …

Time of Pandemics
2 years, 8 months ago

Time of Pandemics

Al Jazeera  

Antibodies, vaccine trials and the social factors determining health – what can we learn from the HIV experiences in the global south, in this time of COVID-19? This exploration, by South African filmmaker Rehad Desai, unpicks connections between the two pandemic experiences, from a global south perspective. This HIV vaccine research, and its extensive clinical trial infrastructure in South Africa, …

Column: While we line up for a fourth shot, the world’s poor haven’t gotten their first
2 years, 8 months ago

Column: While we line up for a fourth shot, the world’s poor haven’t gotten their first

LA Times  

Go ahead — line up for your second booster shot, Americans. The outrageous truth is that two years into the pandemic that has killed 6 million people worldwide, 65% of Americans have received two vaccine shots and are considered “fully vaccinated.” But only 14.5% of people in low-income countries have received even a single dose, according to data compiled by …

South Africa surpasses 1,00,000 COVID-19 related deaths; curbs to be eased 'soon' despite 5th wave warning
2 years, 8 months ago

South Africa surpasses 1,00,000 COVID-19 related deaths; curbs to be eased 'soon' despite 5th wave warning

Firstpost  

While the government would not enforce vaccination, the new health regulations still make provision for employers to insist on staff being vaccinated to continue working in their offices Johannesburg: South Africa has surpassed the 1,00,000-mark in COVID-19 related deaths, but the government still plans to end the lockdown restrictions “soon”, despite scientists’ warnings that a fifth wave is imminent next …

2 years into pandemic, world takes cautious steps forward
2 years, 9 months ago

2 years into pandemic, world takes cautious steps forward

Associated Press  

PORTLAND, Ore. — With COVID-19 case numbers plummeting, Emily Safrin did something she hadn’t done since the pandemic began two years ago: She put her fears aside and went to a concert. “Everyone was supposed to be vaccinated or have a negative test, and I said, ‘What the heck, I’m just gonna live my life,’” Safrin said of her concert …

Africa transitioning out of pandemic phase of COVID: WHO
2 years, 10 months ago

Africa transitioning out of pandemic phase of COVID: WHO

Al Jazeera  

The head of WHO Africa says the continent is transitioning to a phase of managing the virus in the long term. “Against the odds, including huge inequities in access to vaccinations, we’ve weathered the COVID-19 storm with resilience and determination.” Moeti’s optimism contrasts sharply with the warnings from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has said repeatedly the pandemic is …

Africa CDC director urges youths to boost COVID vaccinations
2 years, 10 months ago

Africa CDC director urges youths to boost COVID vaccinations

Associated Press  

ABUJA, Nigeria — Africa’s top health official is launching a campaign to enlist young people to encourage vaccinations, as just 11.3% of the continent’s 1.3 billion people are vaccinated against COVID-19. Youths will be encouraged “to play an active role” in ramping up inoculations across the continent where the vaccination rate is far below other regions in the world, Africa …

Covid-19: What will it take to vaccinate the world?
2 years, 11 months ago

Covid-19: What will it take to vaccinate the world?

Hindustan Times  

This is one of a series of interviews by Bloomberg Opinion columnists on how to solve the world’s most pressing policy challenges. It will not provide very durable protection Clara Ferreira Marques: You’re a veteran advocate for global health, vaccines and tropical-disease control, and served as a U.S. science envoy during the Obama administration. The Texas Children’s Hospital Center for …

This is how the COVID-19 health emergency could be over this year, WHO says
2 years, 11 months ago

This is how the COVID-19 health emergency could be over this year, WHO says

LA Times  

John Nkengasong, left, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and moderator Julia Chatterley during a remote panel on vaccine equity at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday. Dr. Michael Ryan, speaking during a panel discussion on vaccine inequity hosted by the World Economic Forum, said “we may never end the virus” because such pandemic viruses “end …

It is time for Africa to focus on getting vaccines in arms
2 years, 11 months ago

It is time for Africa to focus on getting vaccines in arms

Al Jazeera  

Rates of vaccination against COVID-19 are still disappointingly low in Africa, with just around 8 percent of the continent’s population fully vaccinated against the disease. Indeed, high-income countries have been hoarding vaccines, most recently for third “booster” doses, leaving low-income countries, including many in Africa, unable to access enough doses even for their most vulnerable populations and frontline health workers. …

Poorer nations reject over 100 million Covid shots as many close to expiry
2 years, 11 months ago

Poorer nations reject over 100 million Covid shots as many close to expiry

India Today  

Poorer nations last month rejected more than 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines distributed by the global programme COVAX, mainly due to their rapid expiry date, a UNICEF official said on Thursday. UNICEF's data on supplies and use of delivered vaccines show that 681 million shipped doses are currently stored in about 90 poorer nations, according to CARE, a charity, …

Biden urges concern but not alarm in US as omicron rises
2 years, 11 months ago

Biden urges concern but not alarm in US as omicron rises

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden urged concern but not alarm as the United States set records for daily reported COVID-19 cases and his administration struggled to ease concerns about testing shortages, school closures and other disruptions caused by the omicron variant. In remarks Tuesday before a meeting with his COVID-19 response team at the White House, Biden aimed to convey …

Blanket COVID boosters risk prolonging pandemic, WHO chief warns
3 years ago

Blanket COVID boosters risk prolonging pandemic, WHO chief warns

Al Jazeera  

WHO chief Tedros insists priority remains getting vaccines to unvaccinated and vulnerable people everywhere. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted on Wednesday that the priority must remain to get vaccines to vulnerable people everywhere rather than giving additional doses to the already vaccinated. And he noted that “the vast majority of hospitalisations and deaths are in unvaccinated people, not un-boosted …

South Africa sees fewer hospitalisations as Omicron cases surge
3 years ago

South Africa sees fewer hospitalisations as Omicron cases surge

Al Jazeera  

Health officials say fewer coronavirus patients require hospitalisation despite a rise in the number of COVID-19 infections. COVID-19 infection rates are soaring across South Africa as a result of the highly mutated Omicron variant of the coronavirus, but fewer people have died or required hospital treatment compared with previous waves of the disease, according to health officials. The discovery of …

Bengaluru may impose institutional quarantine on travellers from 'at-risk' countries
3 years ago

Bengaluru may impose institutional quarantine on travellers from 'at-risk' countries

India Today  

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said that discussions are on with experts to introduce compulsory institutional quarantine for foreign arrivals from 'at-risk' countries, even if they test negative for Covid-19. So we are considering introducing institutional quarantine for all passengers from at-risk countries, even if they test negative for COVID-19. 'PREPARING FOR SPIKE IN NUMBERS' Gaurav Gupta …

Africa CDC: Nations might turn to COVID-19 vaccine mandates
3 years ago

Africa CDC: Nations might turn to COVID-19 vaccine mandates

Associated Press  

NAIROBI, Kenya — African governments might have to resort to COVID-19 vaccine mandates if their citizens don’t hurry to get the increasingly available doses, the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The warning by John Nkengasong to reporters that governments “will not have a choice” came as the flow of doses to Africa’s 54 …

Next pandemic may be worse, says scientist behind UK's Covid-19 vaccine
3 years ago

Next pandemic may be worse, says scientist behind UK's Covid-19 vaccine

India Today  

One of the scientists behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is warning that the next pandemic may be more contagious and more lethal unless more money is devoted to research and preparations to fight emerging viral threats. In excerpts released before a speech Monday, Professor Sarah Gilbert says the scientific advances made in fighting deadly viruses “must not be lost” because …

Covid-19: The world has the tools to end the pandemic. They’re not being used properly
3 years ago

Covid-19: The world has the tools to end the pandemic. They’re not being used properly

CNN  

London CNN — The Covid-19 pandemic will not last forever. “This is the major issue: There was never a plan, there still isn’t a plan at a global level,” said Andrea Taylor, assistant director of programs at the Duke Global Health Institute. “It isn’t just pockets – huge swathes of the world have unacceptably low vaccine coverage,” Taylor said. “It’s …

Doctor: Many South Africans ill in surge have mild symptoms
3 years ago

Doctor: Many South Africans ill in surge have mild symptoms

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy South Africa's rapid increase in …

COVID-19: New variant from South Africa sends panic waves across the world | Key developments
3 years ago

COVID-19: New variant from South Africa sends panic waves across the world | Key developments

India TV News  

Highlights The U.K. banned flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries Fauci said U.S. public health officials were talking Friday with South African colleagues. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said flights will have to “be suspended until we have a clear understanding about the danger posed by this new variant, and travelers returning from this …

Africa CDC says 11 countries on continent facing a 4th COVID-19 wave
3 years ago

Africa CDC says 11 countries on continent facing a 4th COVID-19 wave

China Daily  

People wait before receiving the vaccine against coronavirus disease at a mass immunization venue inside Cairo University, in Cairo, Egypt, Sept 8, 2021. The fourth wave of the pandemic is currently gripping countries including Algeria, Egypt, Kenya and Tunisia, Africa CDC head John Nkengasong said on Thursday. The continent has seen an average 6 percent decrease in new COVID-19 cases …

What do we know about the new COVID strain found in South Africa?
3 years ago

What do we know about the new COVID strain found in South Africa?

Al Jazeera  

The discovery of new variant with a high number of mutations raises concerns about COVID-19 transmissions, triggering travel restrictions. A new COVID-19 variant detected in South Africa with a high number of mutations has raised concerns among scientists and triggered travel restrictions by a number of countries amid fears of coronavirus transmissions. South Africa Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the …

Britain raises alarm over new Covid-19 variant found in South Africa which could beat vaccines
3 years, 1 month ago

Britain raises alarm over new Covid-19 variant found in South Africa which could beat vaccines

India Today  

Britain on Thursday said it was concerned by a newly identified coronavirus variant spreading in South Africa that might make vaccines less effective and imperil efforts to fight the pandemic. READ: Covid-19: Centre sounds alert over new coronavirus variant found in South Africa | 5 things you need to know The variant was first identified at the start of this …

Scientists are mystified, and wary, as Africa avoids COVID-19 disaster
3 years, 1 month ago

Scientists are mystified, and wary, as Africa avoids COVID-19 disaster

LA Times  

At a busy market in a poor township outside Harare, Nyasha Ndou kept his mask in his pocket as hundreds of other people, mostly unmasked, jostled to buy and sell fruits and vegetables displayed on wooden tables and plastic sheets. “The police demand bribes, so I lose money if I don’t move around with a mask.” Days earlier, Zimbabwe recorded …

COVID-19 vaccination drive at Multicultural Festival as SA authorities aim for 80 per cent target
3 years, 1 month ago

COVID-19 vaccination drive at Multicultural Festival as SA authorities aim for 80 per cent target

ABC  

South Australian health authorities have made another plea for communities with low vaccination rates to get immunised against COVID-19, nine days before the state significantly relaxes its border restrictions. Key points: Almost 74 per cent of South Australians aged 16 and over are now double-vaccinated Authorities are continuing to push to boost that number ahead of border restrictions easing on …

Australia's path from pandemic to endemic, and what 'living with COVID' could mean
3 years, 2 months ago

Australia's path from pandemic to endemic, and what 'living with COVID' could mean

ABC  

The COVID-19 pandemic won't end with a bang, but more likely a fizzle — and a long, protracted one at that. "I don't know if we're going to wake up one day and say, 'Oh, it's over now,'" says Eddie Holmes, an evolutionary virologist at the University of Sydney. Key points: Most experts agree eradicating COVID-19 is now almost certainly …

South Africa launches drive to vaccinate 500,000 in 2 days
3 years, 2 months ago

South Africa launches drive to vaccinate 500,000 in 2 days

Associated Press  

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South Africa launched a new COVID-19 vaccination drive Friday and will try to give doses to 500,000 people in two days to reinvigorate a flagging campaign that’s coming up against hesitancy and complacency in the continent’s worst-affected country. Ramaphosa is attempting to entice people to get shots by tying vaccination rates to a return to …

Zimbabwe’s vaccine mandates squeeze some of world’s poorest
3 years, 2 months ago

Zimbabwe’s vaccine mandates squeeze some of world’s poorest

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “The Zimbabwe government should first focus on making sure …

''Vaccine apartheid'': Africans tell UN they need vaccines
3 years, 3 months ago

''Vaccine apartheid'': Africans tell UN they need vaccines

The Hindu  

As wealthy countries begin to consider whether to offer their populations a third COVID-19 shot, African nations still waiting for their first have given this as a stark reminder to world leaders at the UN General Assembly: “No one is safe unless we are all safe.” That message was repeated throughout the day as the inequity of vaccine distribution came …

‘Vaccine apartheid': Africans tell UN they need vaccines
3 years, 3 months ago

‘Vaccine apartheid': Africans tell UN they need vaccines

Associated Press  

As wealthy countries begin to consider whether to offer their populations a third COVID-19 shot, African nations still waiting for their first gave this stark reminder to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday: “No one is safe unless we are all safe.” That message was repeated throughout the day as the inequity of vaccine distribution came into …

African leaders highlight vaccine inequity in UNGA speeches
3 years, 3 months ago

African leaders highlight vaccine inequity in UNGA speeches

Al Jazeera  

The inequity of COVID-19 vaccine distribution came into sharper focus on Thursday as many leaders of African countries, whose populations have little to no access to the life-saving shots, stepped to the podium to speak at the United Nations General Assembly. “It is an indictment on humanity that more than 82 percent of the world’s vaccine doses have been acquired …

Living with Covid: Five countries that have decided it’s time to open up
3 years, 3 months ago

Living with Covid: Five countries that have decided it’s time to open up

CNN  

London CNN — More than 18 months into the coronavirus pandemic, a number of countries have decided it’s time to open up and adopt a “living with Covid” model. Denmark: The country that declared precautions over The Danish government lifted all remaining coronavirus restrictions in the country on September 10, saying Covid-19 was no longer “an illness which is a …

Sydney COVID-19 patients say effects of virus are 'crazy' and urge others to get vaccinated
3 years, 3 months ago

Sydney COVID-19 patients say effects of virus are 'crazy' and urge others to get vaccinated

ABC  

COVID-19 patients receiving treatment at Sydney's Concord Hospital have given emotional accounts about their illness in a bid to counter misinformation about the virus in the community. Key points: One father said his daughter was now very sick from the virus and being admitted to hospital too A single mother said she contracted the virus between her first and second …

WHO: COVID-19 vaccination triples in Africa but still low
3 years, 3 months ago

WHO: COVID-19 vaccination triples in Africa but still low

Al Jazeera  

Africa CDC head says less than 3 percent of continent’s population have been vaccinated and blames vaccine inequality. COVID-19 vaccinations in Africa have tripled during the past week, though protecting even 10 percent of the continent by the end of September remains “a very daunting task,” the Africa director of the World Health Organization has said. The WHO Africa director …

Prime Minister says country must prepare for more COVID-19 cases and an end to lockdowns
3 years, 4 months ago

Prime Minister says country must prepare for more COVID-19 cases and an end to lockdowns

ABC  

The Prime Minister has warned state and territory leaders they must not be afraid of COVID-19 cases rising once enough of the population is vaccinated against the virus. Key points: The Prime Minister says states and territories must hold to an agreement to wind down COVID-19 restrictions as more people are vaccinated The Prime Minister says states and territories must …

To boost vaccinations, South Africa opens jabs to all adults
3 years, 4 months ago

To boost vaccinations, South Africa opens jabs to all adults

Associated Press  

JOHANNESBURG — At the busy taxi stand near Soweto’s Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital, a health worker with a megaphone called out to commuters, calling them to come and get a COVID-19 vaccination. “Our main purpose is to reach out to the taxi drivers, the commuters and the hawkers that are found within this area.” Faced with slowing numbers of people …

West Africa healthcare strained by Ebola, COVID outbreaks: WHO
3 years, 4 months ago

West Africa healthcare strained by Ebola, COVID outbreaks: WHO

Al Jazeera  

UN health agency says West Africa faces complex challenge of multiple outbreaks that could strain healthcare systems. The World Health Organization has warned that on top of the COVID-19 pandemic, West Africa is facing new outbreaks of the viral haemorrhagic fevers Marburg and Ebola, risking huge strains on ill-equipped health systems. “Fighting multiple outbreaks is a complex challenge.” Ivory Coast …

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