The latest on Covid-19: New variant detected, travel bans imposed, and state of disaster extended

New variant, new travel bans for SA

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed on November 25 that a new Covid-19 variant, B.1.1.529, has been detected in South Africa. The institute said that 22 positive cases of the variant had been recorded nationally. In light of this new discovery, many countries are imposing travel bans to Southern African countries, with immediate effect. Read the full story here.

State of Disaster extended yet again as Covid-19 cases rise and new variant is detected

Cabinet has approved the extension of the national State of Disaster by one month (November 15 to December 15). Read the original story on The Citizen.

NICD: Tshwane one of the regions in which new Covid-19 variant detected

Over the past two to three weeks, coronavirus infections have been on the increase in Gauteng, with Tshwane numbers seeing a sharp rise. According to the NICD, Tshwane is also one of the regions in which the new coronavirus variant has been detected. Read the full story on Pretoria Rekord. 

Health Department adds antigen tests to country’s official Covid-19 stats

The Department of Health has announced that rapid antigen tests are now being included in the Covid-19 statistics. This came into effect on Tuesday (November 23). Initially, all Covid-19 positive cases were diagnosed through the ‘gold standard’ of a laboratory-confirmed polymerase chain reaction test. Read the full story here.

Another hard lockdown? Health minister says it’s ‘too early’ to say

Following the rise in daily infections and the looming fourth wave, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said Cabinet and the National Coronavirus Command Council will meet this weekend to discuss the current situation, but also emphasised that that it was ‘too early’ to make decisions on potential new lockdown restrictions. Read the original story on The Citizen.

Mantsopa Mayor dismayed by appalling actions of Covid-19 beneficiaries

The Mayor of Free State-based Mantsopa Municipality, Mamsie Tsoene, has expressed her disappointment in how Post Office officials were threatened by beneficiaries of the special Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant earlier this week. For more on this story, click here.

Joy as woman defeats Covid-19 after 109-day battle

In other news, a Cape Town woman’s holiday in the Lowveld went horribly wrong when she contracted Covid-19 and spent over 14 weeks in ICU. Magda de Leeuw (65) spent 109 days in Mediclinic Nelspruit, battling the virus. Joyful songs and cheers from the staff sounded out when Magda was finally discharged from hospital on November 17. Now a long road to recovery awaits her at M-Care, a Nelspruit hospital that offers rehabilitation care. Read the full story here.

*Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news

Dear reader,

As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19. Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).