Epidemics Tracker

Dogs in Australia, Finland trained to sniff out coronavirus in sweat Adelaide, Australia | THE INDEPENDENT & AGENCIES | Dogs that have previously been deployed to trace drugs, explosives and cancer, are being trained to sniff out people infected with COVID-19. Researchers in Finland, and at the University of Adelaide in …

How copying and pasting Western solutions to the pandemic was unrealistic for Uganda and Africa THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | When COVID-19 struck, the world held its breath. In early 2020, there were doomsday predictions that the pandemic would devastate Africa, given the continent’s poverty leading to …

Washington, US | XINHUA | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Saturday authorized Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in the United States. It does not have to be kept in extra-cold facilities, and is a one dose vaccine. It is the third COVID-19 vaccine that …

Cogniware Insights systems software will digitally manage, monitor, track, and trace infected people Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Roke Telkom, a fully licensed Ugandan-based telecommunications company has been awarded a grant worth Shs 100 million under Phase 3 of the National Support Initiatives Program. The grant from the Ministry of ICT …

Brussels, Belgium | Xinhua | Leaders of the European Union (EU) called for an accelerated production and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines late on Thursday as the bloc is struggling with supply shortfalls. “Our top priority now is speeding up the production and delivery of vaccines, and vaccinations, across the EU,” European …

Accra, Ghana | Xinhua | Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will be the first to receive a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in the country ahead of the mass vaccination which starts on March 2, Presidential Advisor on Health Anthony Nsiah-Asare said Thursday. According to him, the move “is to …

“Building Back Better”: Regional Perspectives of Green Economic Recovery Post COVID-19 COMMENT | Barbara Ntambirweki | The COVID-19 pandemic is testing governments and shattering economic growth all over the world. The pandemic is currently causing significant adverse impact on the global economy with governments around the world implementing various fiscal measures to mitigate …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  The health ministry has warned that the current drop in COVID-19 numbers is not good news. Health ministry officials say the drop in numbers is just the calm before an impending second wave. As of today, the health ministry has recorded 40,243 cases of the …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  Key populations operating at borders points to Uganda say that they can’t adhere to the Ministry of Health’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of maintaining a physical distance as protection against COVID-19. According to the World Health Organization, in the wake of COVID-19 everyone is encouraged …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Schools across the country are waiting for the ministry of education to release the updated standard operating procedures ahead of the expected reopening for non-candidates classes. When the government announced the reopening of schools, as part of the pre-reopening activities, the ministry had to update …