By XINHUA The Zimbabwean government on Wednesday announced the postponement of schools reopening as COVID-19 cases surge, coupled with the threat of flooding posed by Cyclone Chalane. The schools were supposed to reopen for the first term of 2021 on January 4. Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education Tumisang Thabela said in a notice to learners,…
By XINHUA The first batch of 3 million doses of China’s SinoVac COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the Turkish capital Ankara early Wednesday. Mass vaccination will start following 14 days of tests, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca tweeted Wednesday. “As soon as the tests are completed, our vaccination program will take place under the coordination of the…
By AFP Algeria will begin rolling out the contentious Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine developed by Russia in January, the government said late Wednesday. The country had signed a “mutual agreement with a Russian laboratory for the acquisition of the coronavirus vaccine from January”, said Communications Minister Ammar Belhimer. Authorities will receive an initial shipment of 500,000…
On the occasion of the end of the 24th Chinese medical mission in Tunisia, an official ceremony took place on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Tunisian health ministry in Tunis. The ceremony was co-chaired by Tunisian Minister of Health Faouzi Mehdi and China’s Ambassador to Tunisia Zhang Jianguo. During the ceremony, Mehdi expressed gratitude…
By CGTN Africa South Africa reported a record of 17,710 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, surpassing the previous high set at 14,500 several days ago. “As of today, the cumulative total of COVID-19 cases identified is 1,039,161 with 17,710 (positivity rate 33%) cases identified since the last report,” the health ministry said in a statement.“The positivity…
By CGTN Africa Britain on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve AstraZeneca and a low-cost COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University, raising hopes it will help tackle rising cases and ease pressure on creaking health services. The Independent Medicines and Healthcare products and Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the vaccine “met its strict standards…
By XINHUA Zambia on Tuesday surpassed the 20,000 mark in cumulative COVID-19 cases as the country starts feeling the effect of the second wave. According to figures released by the Zambia National Public Health Institute in its daily update, the country recorded 234 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative cases to 20,177….
By XINHUA The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the African continent reached 2,677,672 as of Tuesday as the death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic reached 63,344, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said. A total of 2,239,023 people infected with COVID-19 have recovered across the continent, the continental disease control and…
By XINHUA Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has returned home on Tuesday night after more than two months of treatment in Germany. “Being away from home is too hard, and the accumulating duties are harder,” Tebboune was quoted as saying by the state-run ENTV channel upon his arrival to Algiers. “I thank God for my safe return,…
By Jerry Omondi South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday announced that the country was adjusting its COVID-19 situation from Level 1 to Level 3 immediately following an upsurge in new infections. The president made the announcement during his national address that came just a day after the country’s virus load surpassed the one million mark….
