COVID, FLU SURGE IN U.S. AMID HOLIDAYS, INCREASING HEALTH RISKS

Thu 28 December 2023: The United States has seen an uptick in flu and COVID-19 cases amid holidays, and health experts are concerned about the increasing health risks brought by the simultaneous spread of respiratory illnesses. The amount of respiratory illnesses causing people to seek healthcare is elevated or increasing across most areas of the […]

Continue Reading

COVID VARIANT JN.1 IS THE CAUSE OF NEARLY HALF OF THE LATEST INFECTIONS IN THE U.S.

Wed 27 December 2023: A new coronavirus subvariant JN.1 is spreading fast in the United States, and is now accounting for nearly half of the latest COVID-19 cases in the country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). JN.1 is currently the fastest growing variant and the dominant one in the […]

Continue Reading

WHO DECLARES JN.1 COVID-19 STRAIN ‘VARIANT OF INTEREST’

Wed 20 December 2023: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday classified the JN.1 COVID-19 variant as a “variant of interest,” and said available evidence showed it posed a low global public health risk. It, however, warned that JN.1 could increase the burden of respiratory infections in many countries with the onset of winter in […]

Continue Reading

SOUTH AFRICA: COVID-19 SOCIAL GRANT EXTENDED UNTIL 2025

Wed 01 October 2023: Government has extended the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress Grant (SRD Grant) until March 2025 while it considers social security policy reforms and a funding model. The grant was introduced to support low-income individuals affected by the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Delivering the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) to […]

Continue Reading

LONDON AIRPORT SCRAPS 160 FLIGHTS OVER AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SHORTAGES

Tue 26 September 2023: London’s Gatwick airport said on Monday that it had been forced to cancel more than 160 flights between now and Sunday due to an exceptional shortage of controllers, partly caused by coronavirus infections.  In a statement, Gatwick Airport said that until Sunday, flights will be limited to 800 per day, adding […]

Continue Reading

SOUTH AFRICA ‘HELD TO RANSOM’ BY BIG PHARMA, OVERCHARGED FOR COVID VACCINES

Thu 07 September 2023: J&J, Pfizer charged South Africa between 15 and 33 percent more for COVID vaccine doses, contracts reveal. Johannesburg, South Africa – Big pharmaceutical companies “bullied” South Africa into signing unfair agreements that forced the country to overpay for COVID-19 vaccines compared with Western nations, according to a nonprofit that lobbied for the […]

Continue Reading

WHO SEES ‘CONCERNING’ COVID TRENDS BEFORE WINTER AS HOSPITALISATIONS RISE

Thu 07 September 2023: The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of “concerning” COVID-19 trends in advance of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, calling for increased vaccinations and surveillance. While figures are “limited” because many countries have stopped reporting coronavirus data, the United Nations health agency estimated that hundreds of thousands of people globally were currently […]

Continue Reading

WHAT IS PIROLA – THE NEW BA.2.86 CORONAVIRUS VARIANT?

People in masks walk through a crowded street in Rome, Italy. Tue 05 September 2023: New coronavirus variants have raised concern across the world amid a rise in cases in the United States and parts of Europe. The BA.2.86 variant, nicknamed “Pirola”, is a newly designated, highly mutating variant of Omicron which triggered the surge in cases. […]

Continue Reading

UK ACCELERATES COVID-19 VACCINE PROGRAMS AMID GROWING CONCERNS OVER NEW VARIANT RISK

Sat 02 September 2023: UK health officials reported a surge in cases of the highly mutable ‘Pirola’ COVID-19 variant. According to Public Health Scotland (PHS), PCR testing on a sample taken on August 16 led to the initial discovery of the BA.2.86 variant. According to British media, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will soon […]

Continue Reading

CITIZENS URGED TO VACCINATE AMID CONFIRMED CASE OF COVID ERIS VARIANT IN GAUTENG

Fri 18 August 2023: The National Department of Health on Wednesday confirmed the first case of the new COVID-19 “Eris” variant from a sample taken in Gauteng.  The department has since used this opportunity to remind citizens that they can still access life-saving vaccines at public healthcare facilities, although the World Health Organisation (WHO) has […]

Continue Reading