Healthcare workers administer the first batch of Johnson and Johnson vaccines 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 coronvirus pandemic. Picture: Michel Bega
As of Tuesday, 23 February 2021, the cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases is 1,505,586 with 998 new cases identified, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has confirmed.
263 more Covid-19 related deaths were reported, with 51 from Eastern Cape, 27 from Free State, 39 from Gauteng, 60 from Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN), 55 from Limpopo, 3 from Northern Cape and 28 from Western Cape.
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This brings the total number of Covid-19 related deaths to 49,413.
Recoveries now stand at 1,419,459 representing a recovery rate of 94%.
A total of 8,932,950 tests have been completed with 25,093 new tests conducted since the last report.
Meanwhile, the total number of vaccines that have been administered stands at 32,315.
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An emotional US President Joe Biden calls the milestone of more than 500,000 US deaths from the virus “heartbreaking” and urges the country to unite against the pandemic.
The Czech Republic is reaching capacity in intensive care wards as infections keep soaring in the EU’s worst-hit country, its health ministry says.
The country tops the world’s per capita infection table over the last 14 days and is second after neighbouring Slovakia for deaths, according to an AFP tally.
The British pound continues a frantic two-month rise against the euro and the dollar, reaching new highs this week in a sign of traders’ enthusiasm for the country’s vaccination roll-out.
Afghanistan launches a vaccination campaign aimed at administering doses to hundreds of thousands of people, as the war-weary nation reels from near-daily attacks by insurgents.
Strict virus restrictions imposed by North Korea could force the World Food Programme to suspend operations in the country, where chronic malnutrition is rife, a report on the UN organisation’s website says.
EasyJet shares rally on rocketing flight bookings — soaring 337 percent compared with a week earlier — as the British airline is given a boost by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pledge to begin easing England’s virus lockdown shortly.
Cinemas in New York City will partially reopen next month after almost exactly a year shut, Governor Andrew Cuomo announces, in the latest easing of restrictions in the Big Apple.
India’s Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, despatches its first batch of shots for the Covax programme to help poorer countries.
The virus has caused at least 2,474,437 deaths around the world since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.
The US is the worst-affected country with 500,313 deaths, followed by Brazil with 247,143, Mexico with 180,536, India with 156,463 and Britain with 120,757.
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