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by Louise DEWAST with AFP Africa bureaus ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) — Millions of coronavirus shots from the global Covax scheme has arrived in Nigeria, Angola and Kenya, as African countries ramp up their vaccine rollouts. Richer countries have surged ahead with vaccinations but many poorer countries are still awaiting deliveries, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to warn that the crisis cannot end unless everyone can inoculate their populations. The Covax facility, run by the […]
ACCRA, Ghana (AFP) — Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo on Monday became the world’s first recipient of a coronavirus vaccine from Covax, a global scheme to procure and distribute inoculations for free for poorer countries. Richer countries have surged ahead with inoculating their population, but many poorer countries are still awaiting their first vaccine doses. “It is important that I set the example that this vaccine is safe by being the first to have it, so […]
by Carol Valade CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — Guinea launched an Ebola vaccination campaign on Tuesday after a fresh outbreak of the deadly disease struck the country this month, with officials hoping to eradicate the virus in six weeks. The country reported new Ebola cases on February 13 — the first in West Africa since a 2013-2016 epidemic that left more than 11,300 dead in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The latest outbreak emerged near the […]
by Marthe BOSUANDOLE and Bienvenu-Marie BAKUMANYA GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — Italy’s ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo was among three people killed on Monday when a UN convoy was ambushed in the country’s troubled east, violence the DRC’s president called a “terrorist attack” and that was blamed on a Rwandan Hutu rebel group. Luca Attanasio died of his wounds after a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy came under gunfire near Goma while he […]
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Around half of South Africa’s population may have already been infected by coronavirus, a figure far higher than the documented tally, a study and analysis of death figures suggest. Samples taken from almost 5,000 blood donors across four South African provinces in January showed that between 32 and 63 percent had antibodies to the coronavirus. The figure compares with clinically confirmed case rates of just two to three percent, […]
by Fran BLANDY MERU, Kenya (AFP) — As dawn breaks in central Kenya, a helicopter lifts off in a race to find roosting locusts before the sun warms their bodies and sends them on a ravenous flight through farmland. Pilot Kieran Allen begins his painstaking survey from zebra-filled plains and lush maize farms, to dramatic forested valleys and the vast arid expanses further north, his eyes scouring the landscape for signs of the massed insects. […]
by Carol VALADE, with Philippe SIUBERSKI in Dakar CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — Five people have died of Ebola virus in Guinea, the health agency said on Monday, as the government and aid groups began to roll out their response to the outbreak. Guinea announced the outbreak on Saturday — the first in West Africa since a 2013-2016 epidemic that left more than 11,300 dead in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. According to an epidemiological report […]
CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — The head of Guinea’s health agency said Sunday that the country was in the midst of an Ebola “epidemic situation” with seven cases confirmed in the West African nation, including three deaths. “Very early this morning, the Conakry laboratory confirmed the presence of the Ebola virus,” Sakoba Keita said after an emergency meeting in the capital. Health Minister Remy Lamah had earlier spoken of four deaths. It was not immediately […]
by Mouctar Ba with Philippe Siuberski in Dakar CONAKRY, Guinea (AFP) — West Africa faced its first known Ebola resurgence since the end of a devastating outbreak in 2016 on Sunday, with Guinea responding to what its health chief called an “epidemic” after seven cases were confirmed. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic stretching health resources across the world, Guinea and the World Health Organization (WHO) say they are better prepared to deal with Ebola now than […]
BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (AFP) — Deaths from Covid-19 in Africa surged by 40 percent over the last month, the World Health Organisation said Thursday, as the continent’s toll approaches 100,000. “Over 22,300 deaths were reported in Africa in the last 28 days, compared with nearly 16,000 deaths in the previous 28 days,” said the WHO Africa office based in the Republic of the Congo capital Brazzaville. “This comes as Africa battles new, more contagious variants […]
RABAT, Morocco (AFP) — At least 24 people died after heavy rain flooded an illegal underground textile workshop at a private house in the Moroccan port city of Tangiers, the state news agency reported Monday. Rescue workers recovered 24 bodies from the basement of the property and rescued 10 survivors, who were taken to hospital, the MAP agency said, citing local authorities. A search of the premises in the northern city was ongoing. One […]
by AFP Bureaus GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — South Africa suspended the start of its AstraZeneca inoculation programme over concerns the shot does not work on a new variant, with WHO experts due to meet Monday to discuss the vaccine already facing questions about its efficacy for over-65s. A trial showed the vaccine provides only “minimal” protection against mild to moderate Covid-19 caused by the variant first detected in South Africa, a setback to the global […]
