Disease

The Africa Union has expressed concern over the European Union decision to bar people vaccinated by the AstraZeneca vaccine made in India from the Green Pass. In a move that has raised derision from various quarters, the European Union decided that only people who had gotten the AstraZeneca vaccine authorized in the EU would get the Green Pass. However, those vaccinated by the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured...

South Africa has been forced to bring back stringent COVID-19 control measures after the country's daily infections surged as the third wave hit hard. On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the government would impose strict new measures for the next 14 days to check the spread of the infection. Between Saturday and Sunday, the country recorded close to 33,000 new cases. There were nearly 18,000...

Kenya on Sunday reported 204 new COVID-19 cases even as deaths from the deadly infection continued to surge upwards. According to the Ministry of Health, the 204 cases came from 2,971 samples tested, putting Kenya’s positivity rate at 6.87 per cent. The figure raises Kenya’s total confirmed COVID cases to 182,597, with tests conducted rising to 1,943,037. https://twitter.com/MOH_Kenya/status/1409157120180867074 Deaths and recoveries On the other side, the Ministry reported...

The government of Kenya on Friday launched a Measles vaccination drive that would cover 22 counties in Kajiado. Health Chief Administrative Secretary, Dr. Mercy Mwangangi, oversaw the launch, which aimed to cover approximately 3.5 million children between the ages of 9-59 months. The whole process would cost the government Ksh 800 million. Decline in vaccination Dr. Mwangangi said there had been a decline in child immunization coverage,...

Health experts in Kenya have revealed that up to 75 per cent of Kenyans have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The study said that most Kenyans had been exposed to the virus due to poor adherence to the public health guidelines and the spread of new virus variants. The study was done by scientists from the Ministry of Health and the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust. Failure to follow...

The Kenya Ministry of Health has stated that the 13 counties under lockdown remain very much in danger as infections continue to soar. On Monday, Health CAS, Dr Mercy Mwangangi, said they had increased surveillance in the 13 counties in the red zone, stating that they still reported worrying COVID cases and deaths. Attack rate rises “Looking at the numbers in the 13 counties when compared to...

Kenya on Sunday confirmed a drop in daily COVID-19 cases as the positivity rate also declined to below 10 %. According to the Ministry of Health, the 283 confirmed COVID-19 cases came from a sample size of 3,452. That put the country's positivity rate at 8.2%. The new cases now push Kenya's confirmed COVID cases to 179,075 while tested samples rose to 1,904,519. https://twitter.com/MOH_Kenya/status/1406601648324190210 Deaths and recoveries Today,...

Thousands of Brazilians went to the city streets in various states across the country to protest against President Jair Bolsonaro as the country crossed 500,000 COVID deaths. By Saturday, Brazil had registered 500,800 COVID deaths, against 17,883,750 confirmed cases, the worst death toll after the United States. On average, Brazil has reported 2,000 deaths daily for the past one week, according to the country’s Health...

The number of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic has crossed 4 million as fatalities remain high amidst falling cases. According to a report by Reuters, the number of COVID-19 deaths crossed 4 million on Thursday as many countries continued to struggle to acquire COVID vaccines for their masses. The Delta variant, first discovered in India, has been wreaking havoc in many countries, even as Britain and...

Scientists in New Zealand are working on making COVID-19 gowns and masks for health workers which can be decontaminated and used again. According to the VOA, the researchers said they wanted to reduce the mounting heaps of personal protective equipment (PPEs) discarded the world over daily. Billions of face masks discarded Mark Staiger, an associate professor of materials engineering at Canterbury University, said that 3 million face...