#South africa first lockdown date plus#

On 26 June 2022, 21 young people died at the Enyobeni tavern in East London, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. Namibia’s public health facilities are also battling a shortage of oxygen supplies with many Covid patients requiring breathing aids.ĭavid McKenzie reported from Johannesburg, South Africa, and Nimi Princewill reported from Abuja, Nigeria.Tavern tragedy reinforces need to give priority to tackling underage drinking in South Africa Over 19,000 of Namibia’s 2.5 million people are currently infected with Covid-19, stretching the country’s beleaguered healthcare system.Īccording to records by the World Health Organization, nearly 85,000 people have tested positive to Covid in Namibia, and only around 123,000 vaccine doses were administered as of 24th June. In neighboring Namibia, the Delta variant has yet to be detected but the country is grappling with a spike in Covid infections with more than 500 casualties recorded from the viral disease in June, according to data by the country’s health ministry. With many sites in Southern Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and West Africa.” “In Africa, it seems to be very widespread also. The Delta variant is now spreading fast globally and is present in more than 85 known countries, he said. Young people suffer most in Uganda's second wave as country grapples with severe vaccine shortages CNN's Larry Madowo reports from Kampala, Uganda. The rapid surge in Uganda's brutal second wave has forced the country back into a partial lockdown to curb the spread.

While more studies need to be completed, de Oliveira believes that genomic surveillance will show that the third wave in South Africa is directly linked to the emergence of the Delta variant.Ĭovid-19 cases in Uganda were up 137% this week, the second straight week of a triple-digit spike in infections. Early this year, KRISP identified a different variant, now known as the Beta variant, that ripped through South Africa in an intense second wave. “The new variant seems to not only be rising, but it has started to dominate the infections in South Africa,” said Tulio de Oliveira, director of KZN Research Innovation & Sequencing Platform (KRISP). The stricter lockdown measures come after a group of scientists briefed the public on Saturday with details on how quickly the Delta variant took over in the country. Some severe patients have been evacuated to other provinces to access critical care. Beds are limited, they say, but also a lack of trained staff to treat patients. Multiple health professionals in both the private and public sectors in Johannesburg, Gauteng’s largest city, have described to CNN how hospitals are nearing capacity and struggling to accommodate the sick. “We are doing everything we can to make sure that the vaccines are here,” said Ramaphosa, stressing that public health measures like masking and avoiding gatherings are critical.

Public health experts have told CNN that the late start and relatively slow pace of vaccinations mean that vaccinations will have little positive impact on the third wave in the country. The peak of this third wave looks set to be higher than the previous two waves,” said Ramaphosa, adding that the peak of the third wave could also last longer than the past two waves.Īround 2.7 million people have received a Covid-19 vaccine shot in South Africa, one of the worst-hit countries on the African continent. “We are in the grip of a devastating wave that by all indications seems like it will be worse than those that preceded it. All gatherings indoors and outdoors will be prohibited except for funerals and a curfew has been instituted from 9 pm and 4 am.Īlcohol sales are banned while travel in and out of worst-hit Gauteng province will be prohibited and restaurants will only be allowed for take-out and delivery and schools closed. The restrictions are some of the strictest announced since the early months of the pandemic.

#South africa first lockdown date plus#

There are at least 200 known cases of the Delta Plus coronavirus variant worldwide. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images) Peter Byrne/PA Images/Getty Images A mobile testing centre at the ESSA Academy in Bolton, one of the areas of the UK where the Covid variant first identified in India is spreading fastest.