COVID-19 WRAP | Gauteng records over 90, 000 virus cases & SA surpasses Iran's total of 255,117 cases

July 11 2020 - 10:45

SA moves into global top 10 for Covid-19 cases, with 13,497 new infections

SA has 264,184 confirmed cases of Covid-19, the tenth highest number of infections globally.

This after the health minister confirmed 13,497 new cases in SA since Friday night, along with 111 deaths.

SA passed Iran's total of 255,117 cases, according to figures released by the health ministry on Saturday night. There are now 12,723,268 cases across the globe.

July 11 2020 - 16:53

Western Cape records another 41 Covid-19 related deaths

The Western Cape has recorded an additional 41 deaths, bringing the total number of Covid-19 related deaths in the province to 2,323, premier Alan Winde disclosed on Saturday afternoon.

As of 1pm on Saturday, the province — which was recently overtaken by Gauteng as the country's epicentre for Covid-19 — has 15,930 active cases of the disease, with a total of 76,851 confirmed cases and 58,598 recoveries.

July 11 2020 - 11:48

French bus driver dies after attack over mask-wearing rules

A French bus driver who was badly beaten by passengers after asking them to wear face masks in line with coronavirus rules has died, his family said, sparking tributes from political leaders who condemned his "cowardly" attackers.

Philippe Monguillot, 59, was left brain dead by the attack in the southwestern town of Bayonne last weekend and died in hospital on Friday, his daughter Marie said, after his family decided to switch off his life-support system.

July 11 2020 - 11:00

July 11 2020 - 10:58

High blood sugar elevates Covid mortality risk: Study

It is the first time scientists have been able to confirm that patients with hyperglycemia, but not diagnosed with diabetes, are at higher risk of death from Covid-19, they wrote in the journal Diabetologia.

July 11 2020 - 10:03

US records 63,643 new virus cases in 24 hours

The United States recorded 63,643 new coronavirus cases on Friday, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

As of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Saturday), 774 people died of Covid-19 in the country in the past 24 hours, the Baltimore-based university said.

The worst-hit country in the world by the pandemic, the US has recorded a total of 133,969 deaths out of 3.18 million cases.

Thursday saw a record surge in cases, with 65,551 new infections. Experts fear there will soon be a spike in deaths. In recent days, Texas and Florida reported record numbers of virus deaths.

"As a country, when you compare us to other countries, I don't think you can say we're doing great," top infectious disease official Anthony Fauci told political analysis website FiveThirtyEight on Thursday.

President Donald Trump, for his part, hit out at the respected scientist, telling Fox News: "Dr Fauci is a nice man, but he's made a lot of mistakes."

The US leader, who continues to downplay the spike in coronavirus cases, traveled to outbreak hotspot Miami on Friday for a high-dollar campaign fundraiser and other events.

AFP

July 11 2020 - 09:15

Coronavirus can still be brought under control: WHO

Intense outbreaks of the new coronavirus can still be brought under control, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday, lamenting that global case numbers had more than doubled in the past six weeks."

There are many, many examples from around the world," said Tedros, that even if the Covid-19 outbreak is "very intense, it can still be brought back under control". 

AFP 

July 11 2020 - 09:03

France virus death toll exceeds 30,000

France's coronavirus death toll has exceeded 30,000 after the country logged 25 fatalities since Thursday, health authorities said Friday.

The news came as health officials warned of a rising trend in cases in metropolitan France and urged the public to be vigilant given the possibility of a second wave of the epidemic.

France has the sixth-highest number of fatalities in the global pandemic after the US, Brazil, Britain, Italy and Mexico.

However the number of French cases in intensive care continues to fall, standing at 496 Friday evening, down 16 on Thursday.

Overall, 7,062 people are currently hospitalised suffering from Covid-19 after 135 admissions across France over 24 hours.

AFP