COVID-19 UPDATE: KZN DOCTORS, NURSES EXHAUSTED, “VERY SLOW” START OF VACCINATION IN FRANCE

Friday 01 January 2021:

The first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019. However, Beijing has denied that China is the origin of the deadly disease, which has affected over 81.9 million people worldwide. More than 1.78 million people have died from the virus while over 46 million have recovered. Here’re the updates for January 01, 2020:

Fauci says US effort to rollout COVID vaccine’disappointing’

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said Thursday the US effort to rollout COVID-19 vaccines to Americans has so far been lackluster.

“Obviously, it didn’t happen, and that’s disappointing,” Fauci, who sits on Trump’s coronavirus task force, said during an interview on the Today television program.

“Hopefully as you get into the first couple of weeks in January the gaining of momentum will get us to the point where we want to be. But there really has to be a lot more effort in the sense of resources for locals,” he said. “There really has to be a lot more effort in the sense of resources for the locals — namely, the states, the cities, the counties — the places where the vaccine is actually going into the arms of individuals.”

French National Academy of Medicine asked government to speed up the vaccination program

The French National Academy of Medicine has criticized the “very slow” start of the coronavirus vaccination campaign as compared to other European countries, and asked the government to speed up the vaccination program.

This was owing to the “extreme caution” and “excessive precautions” exercised by the authorities by “reserving sufficient time for the collection of consent, searching for possible contraindications [underlying medical condition that could turn harmful with vaccination] and keeping the patient under observation for a minimum period of 15 minutes after the injection to ensure the absence of early adverse effects.”

As a result, less than 100 people were vaccinated in three days in France in a campaign that “seems to lack determination.” In comparison, at least 78,000 people received the anti-COVID-19 jab in Germany and 9,803 in Italy.

Brazil reports more than 1,000 deaths for third straight day

Brazil reported 56,773 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 1,074 deaths from Covid-19, the health ministry said on Thursday.

It was the third day in a row with over 1,000 deaths in a resurgence of the pandemic in the South American country.

Brazil has registered 7,675,973 cases since the pandemic began in March, while the official death toll has risen to 194,949, according to ministry data, in the world’s third worst outbreak outside the United States and India.

Mexico’s official death toll rises to 125,807

Mexico registered 12,159 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 910 additional fatalities on Thursday, bringing its total to 1,426,094 infections and 125,807 deaths, according to the health ministry’s official count.

The government says the real number of infected people and deaths is likely significantly higher than the confirmed figures.

KZN doctors, nurses exhausted as they battle Covid-19 ‘war’

SA Medical Association KZN chairperson Dr Mvuyisi Mzukwa said doctors were “drowning because hospitals are overloaded” with Covid-19 infections but also with patients injured during alcohol-related incidents such as stabbings and motor vehicle accidents.

He said most seriously ill Covid-19 patients presenting at hospitals were elderly people with complications, while many men tended to arrive too late to be treated.

He said hospitals were faced with serious staff shortages, even before the pandemic, and now had to extend 12-hour shifts to 18-hour shifts, to fill in for staff who fell ill or had to self-isolate.

Netcare chief executive Dr Richard Friedland said the surge of cases, particularly in the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Western Cape and KZN had placed a “significant and unprecedented demand” on Netcare’s healthcare facilities.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Tuesday the safety of staff remained of “paramount concern” and the government was concerned about the rising numbers of professionals becoming infected with Covid-19.

India recoveries inch closer to 9.9 million

India’s tally of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) rose to 10,286,709 on the first day of the new year, as the country recorded 20,035 new infections in the last 24 hours, the Union health ministry’s dashboard showed on Friday.

The country’s latest spike in Covid-19 cases is in continuation with the recent trend of low new daily infections, as against more than 90,000 each day in September.

The number of active cases continue to fall and are currently at 254,254, down 3,402 from Thursday, the ministry’s dashboard showed. Recoveries, meanwhile, continue to rise and are currently at 9,883,461, with 23,181 people, more than new patients, recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.

However, in the same duration, the virus also claimed 256 more lives, taking India’s death toll to 148,994. Recoveries, active cases and deaths contribute 96.08%, 2.47% and 1.45% respectively of the country’s total Covid-19 cases.

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