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Coronavirus Watch

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Global Statistics

Over 30,9 million cases of the Coronavirus have been reported worldwide, with the USA being hit the hardest as the country has recorded 6,9 million cases and over 200 000 deaths.

Cases in India continue to rise with the country recording cases over 90 000 for the past 1 week. The country now has more than 5, 4 million cases and over 86 000 fatalities.

Daily case numbers in the European Union and United Kingdom this week reached record highs of more than 45,000 on a 14-day notification rate, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and new restrictions are being imposed in places that were well into reopening. Leaders have raised fears over the pressure that hospitals could face in coming months and the looming prospect of new national lockdowns.

Europe’s death rate has been stable for 72 days, according to the ECDC, although Bulgaria, Croatia, Malta, Romania and Spain are seeing death rate increases. The World Health Organization has suggested the increase could be partly down to the relaxation of measures and people dropping their guard, and evidence indicates young people are driving the second surge in Europe.

Despite the rising numbers of cases, and recent deaths in Europe, the continent still compares favorably to the United States. Europe has reported 4.4 million cases and 217,278 deaths among a population of 750 million, while the US has reported 6.9 million cases and 203,824 deaths in a population of 330 million.

Africa has been recording declines in positive cases recorded except in East Africa where countries like Ethiopia, Morocco and Kenya recording high daily rates.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says there is increasing evidence that Africans living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension and diabetes are more likely to suffer severe cases of COVID-19 and die.

According to a WHO preliminary analysis of 14 countries in the African region, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and asthma are the co-morbidities most associated with COVID-19 patients.

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In Kenya, around half of COVID-19 deaths occurred in people with NCDs, while in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, such patients accounted for 85% of all COVID-19 deaths.

In South Africa, 61% of the COVID-19 patients in hospitals had hypertension and 52% had diabetes, and 45% of people aged 60–69 who died from COVID-19 also had hypertension.

The country recorded 2 029 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s total confirmed cases to 659 656. Gauteng still accounts for most of the country’s cases provincially with 217 116 (32.9%) cases, while the Northern Cape has recorded the least cases provincially with 14 731 (2.2%) cases.

In terms of deaths, 83 new COVID-19 related fatalities, bringing the total number of deaths to 15 940. Most of the new deaths were recorded in KwaZulu-Natal with 52 of the 83 COVID-19 related deaths. A total of 589 434 people have recovered from the virus, bringing the country’s recovery rate to 89.3%.

Zimbabwe had gone for 1 week without recorded any deaths for the past 1 week; however, 1 death was recorded in Bulawayo province to bring the death toll to 225. 25 new cases were recorded yesterday to ring the total number of cases to 7,672. The national recovery rate is at 77% after 5,914 cases have been reported so far. Testing capacity has declined with 539 tests conducted yesterday in three provinces which are Harare, Bulawayo and Midlands.

WHO endorses protocol for virus herbal medicine trials.

The World Health Organization has endorsed a protocol for testing African herbal medicines as potential treatments for the coronavirus and other epidemics. WHO experts and colleagues from two other organisations “endorsed a protocol for phase III clinical trials of herbal medicine for Covid-19 as well as a charter and terms of reference for the establishment of a data and safety monitoring board for herbal medicine clinical trials,” a statement said, according to an AFP new agency report. “Phase III clinical trials are pivotal in fully assessing the safety and efficacy of a new medical product,” it noted. Aljazeera

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