Covid-19

CORONAVIRUS GLOBAL UPDATE

CDC panel backs Pfizer shot; South Africa registers 5,644 new cases

CDC panel backs Pfizer shot; South Africa registers 5,644 new cases
Health staff at a pop-up Covid-19 test site in Altona North in Melbourne, Australia, on 30 August 2021. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Daniel Pockett)

South Africa registered 5,644 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the cumulative total to 2,770,575. A further 235 Covid-19-related deaths were reported, taking total official deaths to 81,830. A total of 12,289,478 people have been vaccinated.

covid delta

A panel of outside advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted unanimously to recommend the Pfizer vaccine, which gained regulatory approval last week. The advisers are now set to discuss booster shots.

European Union countries voted to reimpose restrictions on non-essential travel from the US. A third dose appeared to curb a Delta-led surge in cases and prevent severe disease in a study in Israel. Moderna fell as Japan investigates the deaths of two people who received the company’s Covid-19 shots.

South African scientists said they identified a new coronavirus variant that has a concerning number of mutations. Australia’s daily case numbers hit a record, while New Zealand extended a lockdown of Auckland. China said the US should stop politicising the tracing of Covid-19’s origins.

Key developments

Brazil overtakes US in first doses

Brazil became the latest major country to pass the US in the percentage of its citizens who have had at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine as the government’s inoculation campaign picks up speed and resistance to the shots fades.

About 63% of Brazilians have now received at least one dose, versus 62% of people in the US, according to Bloomberg’s Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker. Countries including Germany, France and the UK have vaccinated at least 65% of the population with one shot, the data show.

White House urges shot incentives for poor

The Biden administration is encouraging states to offer gift cards or similar incentives to low-income people on Medicaid who get the Covid-19 vaccine, in a bid to boost inoculation rates that trail the broader public.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued new guidance on Monday to state Medicaid directors, offering federal funding and other assistance to boost vaccination rates among people covered by the health plan. There’s been confusion about whether federal funding can support vaccination efforts in the programme, an official familiar with the matter said.

Anti-vax talk show host dies of Covid

A conservative talk radio host in Florida who said he wouldn’t get vaccinated has died from Covid-19, making him the third on-air personality who voiced scepticism about the shots to die in August, the New York Post reported.

Marc Bernier (65), who had characterised himself as “Mr Anti-Vax” on his weekday WNDB radio show from Daytona Beach, died after a three-week fight against the virus, station officials announced.

Bernier died about a week after Tennessee conservative talk radio host Phil Valentine (61) died from a protracted battle against the virus. Weeks earlier, Newsmax anchor and conservative radio host Dick Farrel, who questioned the efficacy of vaccines, died from the virus on August 4.

Africa’s low immunity raises variant risk

The large number of people in Africa with a weakened immune system makes it ripe for the development of Covid-19 variants, the head of a South African genomics institute said.

The study of an individual with advanced HIV and limited adherence to antiretroviral treatment showed that a Covid-19 infection persisted for more than 200 days and “multimutational escape variants” developed, Tulio de Oliveira, the head of the institute said.

Africa is home to the bulk of the world’s HIV infections, with South Africa alone having about 7.7 million affected people, and high burdens of diseases such as tuberculosis.

Puerto Rico adds outdoor mask mandate

Puerto Rico is once again tightening restrictions amid a surge in cases. Starting on 2 September, most public-facing businesses — including restaurants, shopping centres and nightclubs — must close from midnight to 5am, and alcohol sales are prohibited during those hours. While masks are already required in enclosed areas, they will also now be required outdoors in spaces where there are more than 50 people.

Puerto Rico’s Health Department says 81% of the eligible population has had at least one dose of vaccine and 70% have had two doses. Even so, cases continue to rise.

The US territory of 3.2 million people has reported more than 141,533 cases of the coronavirus and 2,832 deaths due to Covid-19 since the pandemic began.

US opens civil rights probe over mask bans 

The Education Department opened civil rights investigations in five Republican-led states asking whether bans on school mask mandates discriminate against students with disabilities at severe risk from contracting Covid-19.

The agency’s Office for Civil Rights sent letters to state education leaders in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah on Monday notifying them of the reviews.

EU to reimpose travel curbs on US

European Union countries voted to reimpose restrictions on non-essential travel from the US amid a surge in new coronavirus cases, dealing a fresh blow to the tourism industry.

A qualified majority of ambassadors voted to reintroduce the curbs, which had been lifted in June, according to an EU statement.

The US had 588 new Covid-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the two weeks ending on 22 August, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, well above the limit of 75 set out in the EU guidelines.

The guidance from the bloc is a recommendation and any decision on who to let in, and what restrictions to impose, ultimately rests with the governments of each member state. Countries can also choose to accept proof of vaccination to waive travel restrictions.

Moderna drops as Japan probes deaths

Moderna fell as much as 5.1% on Monday as Japan investigates the deaths of two people who received the company’s Covid-19 shots. Doses from three lots of Moderna’s shots have been halted following reports that foreign particles were found in one of the batches.

US monthly deaths highest since March

The number of US Covid-19 fatalities in August is already the highest since March, underscoring the deadly nature of the Delta variant. The nation recorded 24,274 deaths this month as of Sunday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. Confirmed cases of 3.8 million are the highest since January, which was part of the peak of the winter surge.

Variant batters airline bookings

US airline passengers are planning fewer trips as the spread of the coronavirus Delta variant continues to discourage travel.

Spending for the Labour Day holiday was down 16% from 2019 as of August 21, while bookings were off 15%, according to the Adobe Digital Economy Index. The weekend typically marks the end of stepped-up summer travel for US carriers and demand often rises as families seek to squeeze in a last trip before school resumes.

Czechs approve booster shots

The Czech Republic will start administering booster doses on 20 September to people who were vaccinated at least eight months earlier, the government said on Monday. Seniors and people with health problems will have a priority in getting the booster shots.

With about 30,000 deaths in total, the country of 10.7 million had one of the highest Covid-related mortality rates in the world earlier this year, but new cases adjusted for population are now among the lowest in Europe.

Indonesia relaxes movement curbs

Indonesia relaxed movement restrictions further in Java, Bali and other areas as the Covid infection trend showed improvement, President Joko Widodo said in a briefing.

The Asian country added 5,436 cases in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily count since 3 June, while recording 568 additional deaths. The positivity rate stood at 10.9%, compared with as high as 30% in July.

South Africa identifies new variant

South African scientists said they identified a new coronavirus variant that has a concerning number of mutations.

The so-called C.1.2. variant was first found in May in Mpumalanga and Gauteng, the scientists said in a research paper published by groups including the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases. It has since been found in seven other countries in Africa, Oceania, Asia and Europe.

The mutations on the virus “are associated with increased transmissibility” and an increased ability to evade antibodies, the scientists said. “It is important to highlight this lineage given its concerning constellation of mutations.” DM

– With assistance from Chris Reiter, Alexander Pearson, Yueqi Yang, Alastair Reed, Go Onomitsu, Jason Gale, Lily Nonomiya, Jing Jin, Zoe Ma, Matthew Brockett, Anuchit Nguyen, Matthew Burgess, Cindy Wang, Raymond Wu, Peter Laca, Soraya Permatasari, Antony Sguazzin, Vivek Shankar and Jim Wyss.

Gallery

"Information pertaining to Covid-19, vaccines, how to control the spread of the virus and potential treatments is ever-changing. Under the South African Disaster Management Act Regulation 11(5)(c) it is prohibited to publish information through any medium with the intention to deceive people on government measures to address COVID-19. We are therefore disabling the comment section on this article in order to protect both the commenting member and ourselves from potential liability. Should you have additional information that you think we should know, please email [email protected]"

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