Southern African States Fight Covid, Vaccine Arrives in South Africa



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Although South Africa has relaxed some preventive restrictions from Covid-19, neighbor eSwatini, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, is running out of body bags and struggling to cope with the remains of pandemic victims.

The corpses were wrapped in sheets for two weeks until body bags were finally purchased after complaints from hospital staff who worried about an increased risk of contracting coronavirus.

A source at Good Shepherd Hospital in Siteki cited by The Swaziland era The newspaper said a health worker at the hospital died after being exposed to the virus.

“She died while also being admitted to the facility after contracting the virus. It’s so disheartening as she complained that the shortage of personal protective equipment was a major problem for health workers, ”according to the source, who declined to be named.

According to the latest tally reported by the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on January 31, eSwatini currently has 15,283 cases and 538 deaths in a country of 1.1 million people.

Cases have increased sharply since the end of December.
In an effort to alleviate the situation and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, the UK sent a number of medical professionals in late January to help tackle the Covid-19 problem.

“The team of 11, which includes 4 British doctors … will provide urgent training and use their specialist expertise to provide clinical supervision to those treating critically ill patients with COVID-19,” according to a British government statement.

Mozambique

The rise in Covid-19 deaths in Mozambique is baffling for the country’s health ministry, which recorded its worst month in January.

Mozambique recorded 210 deaths from Covid-19 in January, its worst month since the start of the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Health.

The number is more than half of the 367 recorded deaths from the disease.

In January alone, 20,012 cases were recorded, more than half of the total of 35,833, according to Africa CDC.

South Africa

South Africa has received its first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India. His arrival, which was announced with great fanfare on South African television on Monday, as broadcasters followed the plane delivering the doses as it landed at OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg.

Also on Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the cancellation of certain stricter preventive measures concerning Covid-19, allowing the reopening of beaches, as well as the sale of alcohol.

The country is still subject to Code 3 restrictions, but the president has also allowed religious gatherings with a limited number of people.

Ramaphosa also announced that the country had its lowest number of daily coronavirus infections since the start of December 2020.

One of the new highly infectious variants is said to be South Africa, and many countries have banned travel from South Africa in an attempt to prevent the spread of the virus. This variant would also be more resistant to vaccines.

The government says South Africa’s 1.25 million health workers will be given priority to get vaccinated.

Africa CDC announced last month that South Africa would receive more than 50 million doses.

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