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[Egypt Online] The Health Ministry said on Tuesday 16/11/2021 that 946 new coronavirus cases were detected in Egypt in the past 24 hours, upping the total number of cases to 344,907.
The president also stressed the importance of keeping the economy open after months of stifling movement restrictions.
He urged citizens not to drop their guard and continue adhering to the health rules, such as wearing face masks and respecting curfew times.
South Africa has recorded just over 800,000 coronavirus infections - more than a third of the cases reported across the African continent - and over 20,000 deaths.
AFP
The Western Cape, home to one of the worst COVID-19 hot-spots in the country, has not been hit by any additional restrictions. So what spared the Garden Route?
… ranking Black lawmaker, want more African-Americans named to senior positions.
A …
Gweru City Council mayor Josiah Makombe has said that council would relocate vendors operating from an illegal fresh farm produce market in Mtapa suburb. BY STEPHEN CHADENGA Makombe, who visited the market on Monday, saw vendors not observing COVID-19 regulations such as wearing masks and maintaining social distance. There are also no ablution facilities at the vending site. The city father said council would move the traders to an appropriate site in the same suburb. “When I visited Mtapa illegal market, I was disheartened by what I saw. “Surely, people are suffering to make ends meet,”Makombe said. “However, in as much as we are scrambling for an income to fend for our families, let us not forget that the COVID-19 pandemic is still prevalent. “I urge everyone to observe WHO guidelines against COVID-19, maintain social distance, mask up and sanitise your hands frequently.” He, however, added: “As a council we will relocate those traders to a more appropriate vending place in Mtapa as a matter of urgency.” Vendors created a new vending site after council closed Kombayi market to pave way for renovations after government directed all local authorities to demolish and refurbish old vending sites.
Ghanaians will go to the polls on Monday in a heated contest that will revive old rivalries between incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo and his predecessor John Mahama.
Bolder implementation of economic reform announcements is needed to lift confidence in South Africa's economy, writes Natale Labia.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell as the nation celebrated Thanksgiving last week to a still-high 712,000, the latest sign that the U.S. economy and job market remain under stress from the intensified viral outbreak. Thursday's report from the Labor Department said that initial claims for jobless aid dropped […]
A significant number of black Americans are skeptical about the coronavirus … trial to try to change Black Americans’ minds. https://t … overcome high vaccine hesitancy among Black Americans, @HarvardChanDean says “the best messengers …
Ghana is preparing for its third political showdown between Ghana's former president John Mahama and incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo on December 7 in what is expected to be a two-horse race.
Here is what we know about Mohama.
Mohama came to power in 2012 when his predecessor John Atta Mills died and he narrowly defeated his rival Akufo-Addo in an election a year later.
He is known for his skills in communicating but he has a mixed record.
The leader of the National Democratic Congress is known as an accomplished writer and man of the people.
But the 62-year old's tenure was overshadowed by a global commodities slump that squeezed revenues from gold, oil and cocoa exports.
During his tenure, there were also many electricity shortages leading to his nickname \"Mr Dumsor\", a Ghanian term used to describe power cuts.
Akufo-Addo accused Mahama's 2012 administration of corruption and mismanagement and beat him in the 2016 vote.
Mahama denied the accusations.
Campaign promises
But this time around, he has picked female running mate Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang. She's a former education minister and the first woman to run for vice president for the party.
One of Mahama's key campaign is for a $10 billion infrastructure plan dubbed the ‘Big Push.’
And he has promised to expand a popular free school programme and health benefits
Background
Mohama is a Christian from the town of Bole, a town in the mainly Muslim north of Ghana.
Mahama studied in 1988 for a post-graduate degree in social psychology at the Institute of Social Sciences in Moscow.
He has also served as a minister of communication.
In this record year of a raging and deadly viral pandemic, the Belgian authorities were on secret alert, awaiting for weeks, the Guyana scrap metal shipments that came in five separate containers aboard a loaded transoceanic vessel.
The article Looking for Marlon appeared first on Stabroek News.
Reports of increased levels of fear and anxiety have triggered more support for children in state care since the onset of COVID-19, with the deployment of a mobile mental health unit. ‘Smile Mobile’ is retrofitted with two counselling areas, Wi-Fi...
Ramaphosa was adamant that public behaviour needs to change immediately to prevent the spread of the virus, and blasted defiance of the laws.
While credit- and debit-card fraud remains the most prevalent financial crimes committed locally, the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) is reporting that females and millennials are disproportionately targeted by the fraudsters. Major Keron Burrell, head of...
South Africans can take advantage of heavily discounted airfares from Lufthansa for early 2021 - but you have to book now.
By Jessica Dortch AFRO News Editor In a statement released on Dec. 3, Mayor-Elect Brandon Scott notified the public of his possible exposure to COVID-19 over the weekend. Since becoming aware of the risk of contracting the virus, the mayor-elect has followed CDC guidelines to avoid the public by self-quarantining. According to the statement, he […]
The post Baltimore Mayor-elect exposed to COVID-19, tests negative appeared first on Afro.
Cape Town - The South African government has confirmed that it has made a formal request to the government of Malawi for the extradition of fugitive pastor Shepherd Bushiri and his wife, Mary. “The extradition request for Mr and Mrs Bushiri, has been duly served in terms of Article 6 of the SADC Protocol on extradition as well Article 10 of the Extradition Agreement Between the Government of Malawi and Republic of South Africa entered in terms of the Republic of South Africa Extradition Act No 67 of 1962 as amended,” the Department of Justice said on Friday. “Given our sound and healthy diplomatic, strategic and political relationship, and our common citizenship of the SADC community, we are convinced that the Republic of Malawi will honour the letter and spirit of every provision of their International and regional obligations” Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said. The couple fled South Africa after being released on bail early last month. The self-proclaimed prophet and prophetess are facing charges charges of theft, money laundering and fraud relating to an investment scheme. They were released on a R200 000 bail each in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on November 4, following their arrest in October. Their bail conditions stipulated that they were allowed to travel within Gauteng and North West only, until the case was finalised. The couple own a hotel in Rustenburg in North West. The prosecuting authority in Malawi last week filed an appeal against the unconditional release of the charismatic preacher and his wife. The case was heard on Tuesday. Lilongwe Magistrate Viva Nyimba ruled last week that the couple’s arrest in Malawi was illegal as there was no arrest warrant issued by the Malawian authorities. The magistrate ordered their unconditional release. Malawi police arrested them on a warrant received from Interpol. The state wanted the couple to remain in custody for 30 days while waiting for the extradition request from South Africa. Bushiri has said he fled to Malawi because he feared for their lives and that they would not get a fair trial presided by white court officials and investigated by corrupt white police officers. He demanded that the prosecuting team and the investigating officers be removed and for South African authorities to assure his safety and not revoke his bail. However, Bushiri’s bail has been revoked and warrants of arrest issued. He has also lost his opulent house in Centurion, Pretoria. Three more warrants of arrest were also issued against Bushiri for alleged rape.- IOL
Tom Hanks’ son says everything irie.
In the drought-hit south of Madagascar, people are forced to fill their bellies with white clay mixed with tamarind to cope with famine. More than a year of no rain is slowing leading locals to the brink of famine. The staple food like cactus fruit cannot be produced because of the drought.
\"If we had something to eat, if our saliva was enough, we would never have eaten that. But it's true that we didn't know that white clay was edible before. We tried to mix it and it worked\", Dame Zafendraza, a charcoal producer said.
In a nearby village of Ankilomarovahetsy, 9 people starved to death in September. Toharano is a housewife. She says she's quite certain that the death of her children was due to the famine.
\"My children didn't eat for three days and then died, because I, their mother, did not manage to feed them. I'm sure it was the famine that killed them. It's not something else, it's not the disease, but famine. I left early in the morning and came back in the evening, and I saw the body of my child with his eyes open\", she said.
Children have particularly struggled to digest the clay and tamarind mixture. According to the World Food Programme (WFP) in the country this causes ''belly swelling''.
Half of the population in the southern region of the Indian Ocean Island, is currently in need of emergency food aid, the UN agency said.
Théodore Mbainaissem is head of the Ambovombe office for the World Food Programme (WFP).
\"People could not go out because of the lockdown. The trucks, the bush taxis that have to commute, were not allowed and people stayed more or less in the villages. Add to that the food insecurity caused by climate change, which has been very severe this year\", he said.
The WFP said about 31 million euros are urgently needed to feed the hungry in southern Madagascar.
Climate Change
A few kilometres away in the town of Beraketa, global charity Action Against Hunger (ACF) has put up a centre in partnership with the WFP.
The centre caters for around 50 severely malnourished children and 100 other patients every week. The children are at risk of death, especially if malnutrition is complicated by diarrhoea, respiratory infections or malaria.
While droughts are not uncommon in the area, this dry spell has been compounded by climate impact. The WFP's Mbainaissem said \"for three years in some communities, two in others, there has been no rain.\"
Rising insecurity and livestock thefts have exacerbated poverty and complicated humanitarian relief efforts. The government has deployed the military to distribute food and first aid in the area. In October, President Andry Rajoelina, his wife and son gave out rations in villages.
The local head of the WFP Mbainaissem has warned of a disaster if emergency food assistance are not provided.
Even as the world awaits the deployment of a COVID-19 vaccine, Africa’s chances at getting a shot remains remote in the short term according to experts.
That, coupled with the need to cushion health systems across the continent from being overwhelmed is the other reason for the deployment of a clinical trial named, ANTICOV – the largest trial targeting mild to moderate cases of the virus.
Why the need for targeted trial According to the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, DNDi, ANTICOV’s main goal “is to identify treatments that prevent mild cases from progressing to severe forms of the disease - and thus prevent local health systems from being overwhelmed.”
“Treating mild cases is key in Africa because ICU capacity is not as strong as may be in other developed nations,” a a DNDi statement issued on November 24 stressed. The initiative is working with other partners on this project.
“We welcome the ANTICOV trial led by African doctors because it will help answer one of our most pressing questions: with limited intensive care facilities in Africa, can we treat people for COVID-19 earlier and stop our hospitals from being overwhelmed?” John Nkengasong, head of the African Union’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said of the trial.
Role of hydroxychloroquine
Hydroxychloroquine will be one of the drugs to be studied initially, because there are no large multi- country studies yet about efficacy of the drug for mild cases. HCQ remains the standard of care for COVID in 16 African countries, so this trial will provide key evidence to inform health policies and national guidelines.
One of the key trials that is known to be undertaken in Africa is the World Health Organization, WHO’s solidarity trials but it focuses on severe cases whiles ANTICOV will look more at mild cases with the view to nip the possible transit into severity.
Thirteen countries sign up
Thirteen countries across the continent have signed up for the trial. The majority of these countries are in West Africa; Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. East African countries include, Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and Kenya.
Central Africa has three countries participating – Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mozambique is the sole southern African country to sign up for the trial.
The clinical trial will be carried out at 19 sites continent wide by the ANTICOV consortium, which includes 26 prominent African and global research and development (R&D) organizations, coordinated by DNDi.
Africa’s case load as of December 2, 2020 according to Africa CDC
Number of cases = 2,196,257
Number of deaths = 52,490
Number of recoveries = 1,862,685
Number of active cases = 386,062
Most impacted country = South Africa; 790,004 cases
Least impacted country = Seychelles; 172 cases
Funding for the trial
Major funding for the ANTICOV consortium is provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through KfW and by the global health agency Unitaid a
