Health and Medicine

[allAfrica] Cape Town -- As of January 25, confirmed cases of Covid-19 from 55 African countries reached 3,437,638. Reported deaths in Africa reached 85,184  and 2,892,407 people have recovered. (AllAfrica)

[allAfrica] Cape Town -- United States President Joe Biden is set to ban most non-U.S. citizens who have recently been in South Africa from entering the country, in a bid to contain the spread of a new variant of Covid-19, a senior U.S. public health official has told the Reuters news agency. (AllAfrica)

[East African] Sierra Leone's capital Freetown goes into a two-week lockdown starting Monday, as the government revises measures to contain the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. (AllAfrica)

[Nation] Findings of a study by a team of researchers indicates that Kenyan men on antiretroviral therapy (ART) succumbed earlier to HIV-related illnesses, compared to female patients. (AllAfrica)

[Premium Times] Last week, 10,534 COVID-19 patients were discharged but the country still has 23,933 patients receiving treatments. (AllAfrica)

[allAfrica] As of January 24, confirmed cases of Covid-19 from 55 African countries reached 3,417,518. Reported deaths in Africa reached 84,537 and 2,866,931 people have recovered. (AllAfrica)

[The Herald] Corruption syndicates involving medical doctors, police officers, mortuary staff and agents of some little known funeral service companies are charging between US$40 and US$100 to speed up the post-mortem process and even have bodies of accident victims released for burial without Covid-19 tests. (AllAfrica)

[New Zimbabwe] Former Kariba town clerk and Makonde district administrator, Webster Tembo died Saturday after reportedly battling Covid-19. (AllAfrica)

[New Zimbabwe] Teachers around the country who usually offer services to the Zimbabwe School Examination Council (ZIMSEC) through marking exams have been urged to avoid that this time around in the interest of the safety. (AllAfrica)

[New Zimbabwe] Late Transport minister Joel Biggie Matiza and former Zimbabwe prisons commander Paradzai Zimondi have been declared national heroes. (AllAfrica)

[DW] Burkina Faso has a thriving theater tradition. But terrorism and the coronavirus are curtailing the activities of its only permanent theater. (AllAfrica)

[The Conversation Africa] A new variant of coronavirus has swept across the United Kingdom and been detected in the United States, Canada and elsewhere. Scientists are concerned that these new strains may spread more easily. (AllAfrica)

[Nyasa Times] Mwanza district commissioner (DC) Michael Chimbalanga died on Saturday night at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital's Covid-19 isolation centre. (AllAfrica)

[SAnews.gov.za] South Africa recorded 8 147 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, along with 300 related deaths. (AllAfrica)

[Nyasa Times] United Kingdom-based Malawians who come from Kasungu District have joined the fight against Covid-19 by donating assorted Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the district health office. (AllAfrica)

[Nyasa Times] President Lazarus Chakwera has commended several Malawian institutions and private citizens for their vibrant initiative to raise money and contribute to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) and medicines in public hospitals to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. (AllAfrica)

[Daily Maverick] As the second wave rages on, trauma and grief are gripping the nation. Victims of Covid-19 are dying in isolation, while loved ones carry the psychological and emotional impact of not being able to say goodbye. Now experts are making the case for palliative care as a necessity to alleviate suffering in the face of the pandemic. (AllAfrica)

[The Herald] Government has rapped some church and community leaders trying to stop their followers from accepting Covid-19 vaccines and said only professional health personnel should comment on the jab. (AllAfrica)

[The Herald] Zimbabwe has joined South Africa, India and other countries in sponsoring the proposed waiver from certain provisions of the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement for the Prevention, Containment and Treatment of Covid-19. (AllAfrica)

[Botswana Daily News] Gaborone -- Government will prioritise Batswana in roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine once it has been procured, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has said. (AllAfrica)

[Seychelles News Agency] In a bid to curb community transmissions and the spread of COVID-19, authorities in Seychelles have extended restrictions on movement to February 15 and introduced new stringent measures. (AllAfrica)

[Daily Maverick] Our survey of attitudes towards Covid-19 vaccination in South Africa shows a higher proportion of the population is willing to be vaccinated than suggested by other recent studies. About two-thirds of the population definitely or probably want the vaccine. (AllAfrica)

[Daily News] TANZANIA Breweries Limited (TBL Plc) has partnered with the World Food Programme (WFP) for the 2021 sorghum season and over 4,000 farmers are set to benefit from the project. (AllAfrica)

[New Times] Availability of a pool of medical specialists in the country has been elusive due to multiple factors including cost of training, brain drain, limited local training facilities among others. (AllAfrica)

[SAnews.gov.za] With South Africa gearing to receive its first consignment of COVID-19 vaccines, President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated that government's mass vaccination campaign strategy would reach all corners of the country, prioritising those most in need. (AllAfrica)

[Daily Maverick] The pandemic has raised challenges that offer us an opportunity for a radical reimagining of our education system that could change our future. As we mark World Education Day on 24 January 2021, we argue that social investors will be key to ensuring the success of collective and collaborative efforts between public and private sector players. (AllAfrica)

[New Times] The Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) in partnership with the City of Kigali will on Saturday, January 23, kick-off a random testing exercise in all cells that make up the city. (AllAfrica)

[Capital FM] Nairobi -- Kenya has continued to record a sustained low of COVID-19 cases in weeks as the curve showed signs of flattening even as experts warned of a possible surge from March. (AllAfrica)

[Nation] Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on Friday received three pilot smart "anti-epidemic" robots from the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) Kenya to support the government's mitigation measures against the Covid-19 pandemic. (AllAfrica)

[Capital FM] Nairobi -- The health ministry announced zero coronavirus-triggered deaths on Saturday as the daily virus positivity rate maintained a 2.5 per cent average. (AllAfrica)

[Monitor] President Museveni's announcement about lifting the suspension on sporting activities was as expected greeted with excitement and relief. (AllAfrica)