World Health Organisation

To date, 16 000 instances of the Monkeypox virus have been detected in 75 countries including South Africa. This has resulted in the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially declaring Monkeypox as a public health emergency of international concern.

Whether the dismissal of an employee who attended work whilst awaiting a Covid-19 test result, who continued to report to work after the Covid-19 test result came back positive and who failed to follow health and safety protocols in the workplace, was fair.

A Johnson & Johnson vaccine booster shot is being offered to the health workers. There are health professionals that feel that they should choose for themselves whether to take J&J or Pfizer as their booster shot.

Even though the concept of compulsory vaccinations is not new, the debate has been given a new focus following many local companies considering implementing vaccine mandates for employees from the new year. Ian McAlister, General Manager at CRS Technologies, examines the human rights aspect surrounding this.

Covid has very severely weakened business, eroded job security and spurred unemployment. While strikes have been fewer and shorter during Covid, their effect is greater because of the very weak financial circumstances of businesses and workers resulting from the pandemic.

There is no doubt it – these are challenging times for employers and employees alike. The ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to be felt for some years to come and in the meantime, businesses have to do everything they can to keep operating and help keep the struggling economy going. This is why a development like the Compensation Fund for those who suffer COVID-19-related side effects makes all the difference.

 As of Wednesday, October 20, 2021, minors around South Africa descended on Covid-19 vaccine sites around the country in order to receive a potentially life-saving Covid-19 jab.

Today a new group of South Africans are eligible to receive their Covid-19 vaccines. Minors between the ages of 12 and 17 can now get registered and receive the Covid-19 vaccines.

Confirmed Cases of Covid-19 on the African continent have continued to decline for the tenth consecutive week. However, Dr Mary Stephen, Technical Officer for the World Health Organisation's regional office for Africa, has warned that we must not become complacent.

South Africa is the epicentre of Covid-19 in Africa has officially exited its third wave of infections. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says a downward trend of Covid-19 infections is currently occurring over the entire African continent.

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has announced that the Pfizer Comirnaty Covid-19 Vaccine has been approved for individuals 12 years and older. In a statement released by Sahpra, they say that their decision is limited to the safety, quality and efficacy of health products and not due to procurement decisions.

Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla has provided an update on the current state of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. He revealed that the country’s 7-day rolling average of new reported Covid-19 cases has dropped by 24% while hospitalisation has decreased by 10%.

The World Health Organisation’s Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti has announced that over the past week, new Covid-19 cases declined by 23%. This is the sharpest decline since the beginning of the third wave in July.

Vaccine hoarding and inequality have become a serious issue during the Covid-19 pandemic. While rich countries have the financial capabilities to purchase large quantities of the potential life saving Covid-19 vaccine. Poorer nations have to wait for donations as their government simply cannot afford to purchase the vaccines from manufactures.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) regional director for Africa has revealed that around 39 million people on the African continent have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. This represents just under 3% of people living on the continent. Moeti was part of a panel discussing the Covid-19 Pandemic and Vaccination Rollout in Africa

Minister of Health, Dr Joseph Phaala has expressed his concern over the Western Cape and the Northern Cape recording Covid-19 positivity rates above the national average.

The Minister of Health, Dr Joseph Phala said that he hopes that country can reach herd immunity by the end of 2021. Phala hopes that between 60% and70% of South Africa’s adult population will be vaccinated by the end of the year as this would help open the economy and other social activities.

South Africa has been rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine for 6 months and millions have been vaccinated to date. 

Eskom has announced that loadshedding stage 2 will be taking place this week, heading into the weekend.