A healthcare worker holds up a syringe of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, 17 February 2021, as health workers receive the first jabs of the vaccine in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Picture: Michel Bega
As of Saturday, 13 March 2021, the cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases is 1,528,414 with 1,541 new cases identified, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has confirmed.
82 more Covid-19 related deaths were reported, with 1 from Eastern Cape, 9 from Free State, 7 from Gauteng, 9 from Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN), 0 from Limpopo, 3 from Mpumalanga, 42 from North West, 0 from Northern Cape and 11 from Western Cape.
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This brings the total number of Covid-19 related deaths to 51,261.
Recoveries now stand at 1,452,988 representing a recovery rate of 95%.
A total of 9,426,589 tests have been completed with 32,862 new tests conducted since the last report.
Meanwhile, the total number of vaccines that have been administered stands at 145.544.
Anglo/Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announces a fresh shortfall in planned vaccine shipments to the European Union, citing production problems and export restrictions.
The blow comes as DR Congo became the latest country to suspend its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clot fears. The World Health Organization has stressed that no causal link has been established between the vaccine and blood clotting.
Norwegian health officials report three more cases of blood clots or brain haemorrhages in younger people who received the AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab, but cannot yet say they were vaccine-related.
Ethiopia gives its first coronavirus vaccine doses as the health ministry warns of an “alarming” increase in cases.
Africa’s second most populous country is targeting health workers during the first phase of its vaccine drive, having received 2.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca jab last week.
Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Latvia call for talks among EU leaders regarding “huge disparities” in the distribution of vaccines.
In a letter to European Union leaders, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has suggested some member nations may have signed “secret contracts” with vaccine companies to receive more doses than they were entitled to under EU-wide agreements.
Jordan’s health minister resigns after at least seven Covid-19 patients die Saturday when a hospital runs out of oxygen, triggering an outcry in the kingdom.
France hopes to exceed its target of getting 10 million people vaccinated by mid-April, Prime Minister Jean Castex says, after the country’s death toll passed 90,000 on Friday.
Health workers in the United States have administered more than 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, around 30 percent of the world’s total of shots given so far.
Some 65.9 million people have received at least one dose in the world’s hardest-hit country, while 35 million are now fully vaccinated, or 10.5 percent of the total population of 331 million.
Italy announces a partial lockdown for much of the country from Monday following a fresh surge in infections of coronavirus that will see schools, restaurants, bars and museums closed.
The populous northern regions including Lombardy, which surrounds Milan, as well as others including Lazio, which surrounds Rome, will be designated “red zones”.
Demonstrations in several German cities protesting coronavirus restrictions attract thousands of people, despite warnings from the health authorities of a third wave of the virus.
More than 2.64 million people have died of coronavirus around the world since the outbreak began in December 2019, according to an AFP tally from official sources.
The US is the worst-affected country with 532,590 deaths followed by Brazil (275,105), Mexico (193,851), India (158,446) and Britain (125,343).
North America recorded a decrease in the number of new Covid-19 cases last week, but they rose in the rest of the world, according to a specialised AFP database.
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