Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | South Africa will use infrastructure development to recover from the COVID-19 impact, said the country’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday. Ramaphosa made the remarks while addressing the sustainable infrastructure development symposium in Pretoria. He pointed out that COVID-19 has disrupted global financial markets, production, trade and …
Read More »South Africa’s confirmed COVID-19 cases surpass 100,000
Kampala, Uganda | XINHUA | The cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa has exceeded the 100,000 mark to reach 101,590, according to the latest official update released early Tuesday. Sixty-one more deaths related with COVID-19 were added to the national death toll which now stood at 1,991, …
Read More »S.Africans rush to liquor stores as booze ban lifts
Soweto, South Africa | AFP | Scores of people lined up outside liquor stores in South Africa’s township of Soweto on Monday, waiting to stock up on drinks after a nine-week ban on alcohol sales as part of a strict coronavirus lockdown. Buying booze was prohibited when Africa’s most industrialised economy …
Read More »From the coronavirus frontline, doctors recall battling S.Africa’s HIV outbreak
Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | A deadly virus was ravaging South Africa when Belgian doctor Eric Goemaere first set foot in Cape Town’s sprawling Khayelitsha township on a chilly southern hemisphere winter of 1999. By then HIV had infected more than 5.6 million South Africans, causing thousands of deaths …
Read More »More easing in Europe but virus hits hard in S. America, Africa
Rome, Italy | AFP | Restaurants and churches will reopen in Italy on Monday as part of a fresh wave of lockdown easing in Europe, but rising coronavirus death tolls in Brazil, South Africa and other parts of the world showed the worst is still to come in many countries. The …
Read More »S.Africa reports 24-hour record of 1,160 new virus cases
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa on Sunday reported 1,160 new coronavirus infections, the highest daily number since the first case was recorded in March, data released by the health ministry showed. “As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa is 15,515 with 1,160 …
Read More »S.Africa’s mass testing hits limits as virus spreads
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | With an expert flick of the wrist, South African nurse Bhelekazi Mdlalose collected throat swabs from young men lining up for coronavirus testing at a run-down hostel in downtown Johannesburg. Health workers were sent to the overcrowded block of single-room flats — mainly occupied by men from rural areas …
Read More »Over 10,000 coronavirus cases in South Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Africa has topped 10,000, including 194 fatalities, Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize announced on Sunday. “As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa is 10,015, the minister said in a statement. “We note with concern that the …
Read More »‘It doesn’t come this far’: how rural S.Africa views coronavirus
Letsitele, South Africa | AFP | From his garden in South Africa’s remote Limpopo province, Gilbert Phakola chuckled at a group of healthcare workers knocking on doors to test rural inhabitants for coronavirus. “You guys are coming to fight the virus?,” asked the 80-year old pensioner, bemused by the mask-clad parade …
Read More »South Africa rolls out mobile testing in virus lockdown
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African public healthcare workers dispersed into the buzzing streets of Johannesburg’s Yeoville neighbourhood on Friday as Africa’s worst virus-hit country rolled out mass door-to-door testing for COVID-19. Armed with screening questionnaires and testing kits, medics and volunteers set up their testing station on the front …
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