Tag Archive for: President Ramaphosa

Andrew Stegmann
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South Africans Urged to Follow COVID Rules or Face Tighter Lock-down

Tighter lockdown restrictions might be coming our way should South Africans not up their COVID-19 safety measures.

This is a warning from COVID-19 ministerial advisory committee member Professor Ian Sanne recently.

Sanne, who’s also CEO of Right to Care – a non-government organisation, stresses the mounting burden the pandemic puts on the health sector.

“I think South Africa will have no choice but to lock down further if people don’t seriously practice social distancing.”

Sanne said studies were being done to weigh up the effect of an increased viral load against COVID-19 clinical outcomes.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize last week announced that South African scientists have identified a variant of the coronavirus – and that the current second wave in the country is being driven by this.

Mkhize has raised concerns over complacency amongst young South Africans.

“It cannot be that our youth must only adhere to life-saving measures only after being policed to do so. We, therefore, call on parents, caregivers and youth to understand that it’s now not just a matter of thinking about others or even about yourself and therefore you yourself are equally at risk of dying of COVID-19.”

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann
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Covax Participation Secured After South Africa Makes R283m Down Payment for Vaccine Scheme

The National Department of Health and the Solidarity Fund announced that the country’s Covax participation has been secured after the down payment needed was been made.

On Tuesday, the Health department said that the down payment of $19.2 million (about R283m) has been made to Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance) to secure South Africa’s entry into the Covax facility.

The World Health Organization describes the Covax programme as the global initiative aimed at working with vaccine manufacturers to provide countries worldwide with equitable access to safe and effective vaccines.

The payment was made in line with the fund’s previous allocation of funds and commitment to support the government’s efforts to accelerate the roll-out of vaccines in South Africa.

Covax has confirmed South Africa’s entry into the facility.

The down payment represents 15% of the total cost of securing access to vaccines for 10% (roughly 6 million) of the population. The country’s membership in the Covax facility ensures that South Africa receives its equitable share of the vaccine once it becomes available.

Solidarity Fund chairperson Gloria Serobe said: “There can be no doubt that a Covid-19 vaccine will play an important role in helping South Africa manage the virus.

“The Solidarity Fund was set up for exactly this purpose – to be additive to the work of the government and assist in initiatives and programmes that have the greatest impact in the fight against the pandemic. The fund is grateful to be in a position to assist at this crucial juncture.”

Department of Health Director-General Dr Sandile Buthelezi said: “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Solidarity Fund for providing the financial support that has enabled the country to meet the down payment obligations as required in terms of the agreement.

“The Department of Health will make additional payments, in relation to vaccines delivered under the Covax facility, as they fall due over the next year.”

Health Minister Dr Zwelini Mkhize hailed this milestone.

“It is a privilege to oversee a process that has brought together the government, international partners and business for the sole purpose of delivering quality health care to the people of South Africa.

“This is what we have been advocating for when we speak of multisectoral collaboration, and it is gratifying to see this spirit being harnessed for the good of our people, Africans and the global village,” he said.

“We convey our sincere gratitude to the Solidarity Fund for their unwavering support to the government, to ensure that no one gets left behind as we seek to protect our most vulnerable citizens against the scourge of Covid-19.

“The collaboration with the Covax facility will continue as South Africa ramps up efforts to put the necessary systems and processes in place to ensure that, amongst other health systems strengthening and logistical requirements, the cold supply chain is ready to immunise the population identified.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann
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Science and Innovation Department to Fund New COVID-19 Variant Study

The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), will pump R25 million towards the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) as scientists grapple with the new Covid-19 variant.

Higher Education, Science and Innovation minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, announced this on Friday, during a joint briefing with the Department of Health and scientists.

“This was in the wake of the latest surveillance results that shows a worrying trend of the highly transmittable Covid-19 variant first identified in Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape, and moved to the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and is now the dominant and possibly the only Covid-19 variant responsible for the current surge,” said the department.

According to the department, the R25 million of the R45 million required over the next 12 months will help scientists to complete the sequencing of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 10 000 genomes in South Africa and Africa.

A group of scientists discovered the new “unusual” coronavirus variant called 501.V2, which is spreading rapidly in the country.

According to health department minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, this variant is seeing a larger proportion of younger patients with no comorbidities develop serious illness.

“The evidence that has been collated, therefore, strongly suggests that that the current second wave we are experiencing is being driven by this new variant.”

The department said the grant will be used to understand the spread of Covid-19 and other virus lineages on the continent while also supporting the clinical and laboratory investigations of the genomic variation in the country.

“This is in line with the use of pathogen genomics for monitoring of transmission dynamics of infectious agents and potential vaccine escape is of crucial importance to South Africa, Africa and the world,” said minister Nzimande.

Nzimande said that these funds will be used to acquire equipment to automate the sequencing system and to buy reagents and other laboratory consumables.

Meanwhile, in April 2020, DSI through the Strategic Health Innovation Partnership funded KRISP for the project, ‘Spatial and Genomic monitoring of COVID-19 cases in South Africa to fight the flames before they become a wildfire’ to a tune of R10 million.

“This resulted in the establishment of the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa in June 2020, with the goal to sequence the genome of at least 10 000 SARS-CoV-2 samples to inform the public health response in South Africa, and to use spatial and genomic monitoring of Covid-19 cases to help the government to identify hotspots of transmission and control the local epidemic.”

Meanwhile, the minister said the next step is to get a better understanding of whether there is any clinical and epidemiological evidence to suggest increased transmissibility and/or pathogenicity of the virus and/or vaccine escape.

KRISP

KRISP was established in 2017, situated at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine.

The department describes KRISP as a cutting-edge genomics centre offering a range of DNA sequencing, precision medicine testing, bioinformatics services and technologies to academic, industrial and commercial users.

The centre is a platform of the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), an agency of the DSI – a flagship programme of the South African Medical Research Council has established an excellent scientific infrastructure.

“Their vision is to challenge the status quo and establish one of the worlds most advanced and respected genetic sequencing platforms, to enable and support world-class genomics research and diagnostics services in Africa,” he said.

Nzimande said the consortium capacitated five key National Health Laboratory Services and their associated academic institutions to produce and analyse completely viral genomes in South Africa in near real-time.

The main investigators include Professor Tulio de Oliveira, Professor Carolyn Williamson, Dr Jinal Bhiman, Dr Nokukhanya Msomi, Professor Diana Hardie, Dr Marvin Hsiao, Professor Nicky Goedhals and Professor Susan Engelbrecht.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

Andrew Stegmann
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Second Covid-19 Wave in Full Swing in South Africa as Hospitals Report Capacity Strain

South African Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize reported 9,445 new cases on Sunday evening (20 December), and 152 new deaths over the past 24 hours, as the virus continues its second wave of infection.

It follows 10,939 new virus cases and 254 more deaths in the country on Saturday, the Health Department said.

“As of today, the total number of confirmed #Covid-19 cases is 921,922, the total number of deaths is 24,691 and the total number of recoveries is 793,914, the minister said in a post on social media.

“Regrettably, 152 more Covid-19 related deaths have been reported: Eastern Cape 105 , Free State 5, Gauteng 1, Kwa-Zulu Natal 8, Mpumalanga 3 and Western Cape 30,” he said.

Mediclinic International said it’s struggling with capacity constraints as the country experiences a second wave of coronavirus infections, Bloomberg reported.

Patients seeking care within Mediclinic hospitals are exceeding previous numbers during the first peak, Gerrit de Villiers, a group general manager said in a statement. Demand in many intensive care and high care units have reached capacity, the company said.

Mediclinic said coronavirus patients had climbed from less than 100 admissions to more than 500 in a month in its facilities across the Western Cape.

“This dramatic increase in numbers within the Western Cape has placed very heavy strain on available healthcare resources including staff, equipment and available beds to provide intensive treatment for seriously ill patients,” it said. Elective or non-emergency surgery has been cancelled.

Mediclinic said it is increasing beds available to Covid-19 patients and reallocating resources.

The Western Cape pointed to a spike in new cases over the past week. “Over the last 7 days the Cape Metro has seen a 87% increase in Covid-19 cases, with Mitchells Plain recording a 101% increase, and Eastern subdistricts 97% increase, The Western Cape Government said.

 

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email info@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].