South Africa Logs More Than 3500 New COVID-19 Infections

South Africa on Wednesday recorded 3 522 new COVID-19 cases, with a positivity rate of 8.7%, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said.

The Minister also announced that 167 more people succumbed to the respiratory disease.

However, according to Mkhize, provinces are capturing data as far back as December 2020 as part of their COVID-19 mortality audits.

Of the newest recorded deaths, 46 were recorded in the North West, 38 in the Free State, 35 in Gauteng, 19 in Limpopo, 10 in the Western Cape, six in KwaZulu-Natal, while the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga recorded three deaths each.  

This means the country now has a death toll of 55 507 and 1 621 362 COVID-19 cases since the outbreak.

“The cumulative recoveries now stand at 1 528 868, representing a recovery rate of 94.2%,” said Mkhize.

South Africa is now home to 36 987 active cases.

The data is based on the 11 207 305 tests conducted, 40 355 of which were done since the last reporting cycle.

According to Mkhize, 77 505 people received their Pfizer vaccine since the start of phase two of South Africa’s vaccination rollout programme.

To date, 480 665 healthcare workers have been vaccinated under the Sisonke Study.

“These vaccinations were with the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine and are therefore completed vaccinations,” the Minister said.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are now 163 869 893 confirmed global cases of COVID-19, including 3 398 302 deaths.

As of 18 May 2021, the WHO said 1 407 945 776 vaccine doses had been administered.

– SAnews.gov.za

As UN Warns Kabul’s Groundwater Could Deplete by 2030,Residents Wait for Hours to Collect Water

Due to acute water shortages, residents of Kabul often have to wait for drinking water for hours at the dwindling wells in the Afghan capital. Within the next five to six years, urbanization and climate change could deplete the city’s groundwater,the  United Nations cautions.

Read More

Despite Risks,Unaccompanied Child Migrants Keep Crossing US Border 

One of the top entry points for migrants under the age of eighteen who enter the United States without proper documentation or adult companions is still South Texas.Although fewer crossings took place in the fiscal year 2024 than in previous years, the risks these children face remain concerning.

Read More

Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina on Death Row in Indonesia,is Coming Home

Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina who has spent 14 years on death row in Indonesia, will be coming home but will stay behind bars for the immediate future after being transferred to the custody of Philippine authorities, officials said.

Read More

Trapped in Lebanon, African Migrants Face Unemployment and Rockets

Many of the estimated 176,000 migrants living in Lebanon are African women who are working menial jobs.Many of them have been displaced since the start of the conflict and are facing uncertain futures.

Read More

Permanent Representative of France Briefs Press After Security Council Meeting on Middle East

Nicolas de Rivière,Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, briefs reporters after the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

Read More

The Impact on a Ukrainian Family During 1,000-Days of Russia’s War

This week marks 1,000 days of fighting in Ukraine.For millions of Ukrainians, including 32-year-old Oleh Reshetnyak and his loved ones in Kyiv, the mounting death toll, air raid sirens, and explosions have been a grim reality.

Read More

UN Security Council Meets to Discuss the Situation in Libya

James Kariuki,Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the Month of November, chairs the Security Council meeting on the situation in Libya.

Read More

Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Flee Bombs

Over half a million people, many of them were refugees who initially fled the Syrian conflict, have fled Lebanon into Syria in the last two months.According to those returning to Idlib, Syria’s last opposition stronghold, they are fleeing to a location that is marginally safer than Lebanon,without homes, jobs or humanitarian aid waiting for them.

Read More