covid-19 south africa

The University of the Western Cape has launched a vaccination centre on Friday 18 June. The vaccination centre has been introduced to vaccinate all staff and students over the age of 60.

On Monday the 21st the task of vaccinating 500 000 teachers and other school staff will begin. A consignment of J&J vaccine has been set aside for the task and the Health Department has briefed parliament on the detailed plans that are in place to get as many public and private school staff vaccinated as possible over the next 10 days.

Teachers in South Africa are next in line to receive Covid-19 vaccines, as half a million Johnson & Johnson vaccines doses have been secured for them but await authorisation from the FDA in the USA. Naptosa welcomes the rollout but expresses concern over the delay of the authorisation. 

As the country fights the third wave of COVID-19 and primary school learners prepare to return to full-time contact learning, there are requests for teachers to be prioritised for the vaccine.

The Western Cape Department of Education is now preparing primary school learners for the upcoming return of full-time daily attendance on the 26th of July. This return will also mark the beginning of the third term of the 2021 school year.

Fears of a third wave of Covid-19 spreading across the country has lead the government to move the country back up to Level 2 of the national lockdown.  President Cyril Ramaphosa has addressed the country with another 'family meeting' where he has outlined the new restrictions that have been put in place to attempt to slow the spread of the disease.

Schools in the Free State have been seeing a high rise in Covid-19 cases. Many schools have already been temporarily closed and as the infections rise as the days go by, more and more schools have been affected. 

Over a hundred students at a school in the Gauteng province fall ill after eating tin fish from the schools feeding scheme. Learners were hospitalized and many of them experience other terrible food poisoning symptoms. 

Are you looking to solve the world's COVID-19 crisis? Well, several higher education institutions are challenging student engineers and designers to create a ventilator as South Africa continues to fight the virus.

A school in the Free State province has suspended teaching and learning due to the rising Covid-19 cases. Parents have demanded that all learners be tested before they return to school. 

As school holidays have officially begun, the Western Cape Health authorities have warned all to be cautious as the number of COVID-19 cases may rise.

South Africa now has over 1,5 million cases as we continue to battle Covid-19 and the changes which arrived along with it. We now bring you the latest Covid updates and statistics in the country.

During the festive season is when criminals take advantage of crowded malls and beaches, which is why parents are asked to stay alert when going to these places with their young children.

The Covid-19 Antibody Blood Tests are laboratory-analysed tests which determine if a person has contracted the coronavirus and in response developed antibodies to fight it. It therefore tests for immunity against the coronavirus.

Now that Level 1 has settled in and we've seen an obvious decrease in numbers, we now wonder about the possible second wave. Western Cape is going above and beyond in trying to prepare for a second wave as seen in many other countries.

The COVID-19 app is a notification system and it is not a contact tracing app. There is no way for it to be used to ‘spy’ on you.

While the majority of those who test positive for the virus recover fully, there are a growing number of people who can’t seem to shake unusual symptoms that linger months later. Shakira Choonara, an African Union Youth Advisory Council member, says some of these patients develop what medical health professionals call post-Covid-19 lung disease, which is permanent damage to the lungs. 

By: Tebadi Mmotla

Government has launched the COVID Alert SA app which enables you to be notified if you've been exposed to the virus or not. This is in efforts to go even further with contact tracing while also keeping your identity and infection status private.

Health officials are now looking at whether South Africa will see a second Covid-19 wave and if re-infections are possible as the country sees progress in the battle with Covid-19. The next few days are therefore said to be vital for South Africa and will be able to tell us what to expect now that we are seeing a decline in cases across the country.

Covid-19 antibody tests are approved and are now available in South Africa. With this, you could find out if you're immune to the coronavirus or not. Here's some information on what exactly an antibody test is and how it works.