Top stories

Zambia’s cabinet approved a 8 billion kwacha ($439 million) economic stimulus package financed through a COVID-19 bond in an effort to alleviate the pandemic’s impact, the presidency said on Tuesday. Zambia, Africa’s second largest copper producer, has been wrestling with growing public debt even before the coronavirus outbreak forced lockdowns across the globe, crimping international…

Researchers in South Africa and Brazil have initiated clinical trials to assess a Covid-19 vaccine candidate, ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222), developed by the University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca. Sponsored by Lemann Foundation, the trial in Brazil will assess the vaccine candidate in 2,000 health workers in Sao Paulo and 1,000 people in Rio de…

As South Africa prepares to launch the continent’s first coronavirus vaccine trial, the Rainbow Nation has opened a new field hospital for people with COVID-19 in a de-commissioned Volkswagen plant. According to the country’s health authorities, 3,300 beds have been installed in the new field hospital, bringing the total number of beds across the country to…

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, became the third African country to record over 10,000 cases of COVID-19. The milestone was reached on May 31 when 307 new cases took its tally to 10,162. As Africa’s biggest economy, the federal government has continued to enforce regulations across the board even though most state governments have moved to…

Online marketplace for medical supplies will allow continent to buy in bulk and lower costs, says South Africa’s president African countries have pulled together to set up a one-stop shop to give the continent a fairer chance in the international scramble for Covid-19 test kits, protective equipment and any vaccines that emerge. The Africa Medical Supplies Platform…

June 21: Virus outbreak could spin ‘out of control’ in South Sudan The pandemic is now accelerating in Africa, the World Health Organization says. While the continent had more time than Europe and the United States to prepare before its first case was confirmed on Feb. 14, experts feared many of its health systems would…

Botswana remains one of Africa’s least impacted countries, one of a handful with less than 100 cases of COVID-19. Government has in the past month taken drastic measures including a strict lockdown. President Eric Masisi tested negative for the third time on June 1. The wholes parliament was quarantined at a point when a health worker…