Pandemic continues to reap a grim toll
South Africa hits a dubious milestone and South Korea detects its first virus variant cases
Developments this past week on two continents illustrate the scale of the challenge in turning back a pandemic that shows no signs of letting up.
On Dec 27, South Africa logged its millionth COVID case, with the infections tally rising to 1,004,413 in Africa’s worst-hit country.
“Today, we have breached the 1 million mark cumulative cases of COVID-19 in South Africa,” Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said as the nation hit the dubious milestone.
Mkhize said that over a 24-hour period there were 9,502 new confirmed cases, with 214 deaths. The country’s death toll from the virus rose to 26,735. Over 6 million tests have been conducted.
The minister appealed to citizens to play their role in curbing COVID-19.
“We must adhere to non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent the further spread of the virus,” he said.
It took two weeks for South Africa to move from 800,000 cases to 900,000. But it took only nine days to reach the 1 million mark.
As of Dec 31, the world had more than 82 million confirmed cases with more than 1.8 million deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
In Asia, South Korea’s health authorities announced on Dec 28 the country’s first detected cases of the more transmissible COVID-19 variant, saying the infections were found in arrivals from Britain.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said in a statement
that three South Koreans who had stayed in London and arrived in South Korea on Dec 22 tested positive for the new strain. The three were confirmed with the virus when they took tests after arrival, and have since been under quarantine.
Four other South Koreans, whose
returns from Britain covered two dates, Nov 8 and Dec 13, tested positive. Investigations were carried out into whether they picked up the variant of the virus.
The new strain, first detected in Britain, is known to be up to 70 percent more transmissible than the old
one. South Korea has suspended all flights from Britain for some time.
Over a 24-hour period until midnight Dec 28, the country reported 808 more cases of COVID-19, raising the total number of infections to 57,680. The daily caseload stayed below 1,000 for two-days, with fewer tests conducted over the weekend.
In Europe, the new virus variant has also been detected in two people who went to Norway from Britain, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said on Dec 27. The travelers, who were not identified, went to Norway earlier in December and health workers will follow up with their close contacts, it said.
Norway imposed travel restrictions on passengers from Britain amid concerns over the variant.
In Israel, citizens on Dec 27 entered the country’s third nationwide lockdown as it gears up for a vaccination drive. The restrictions will last at least two weeks, pending a final decision by the cabinet.
From 5 pm, all people are required to stay within 1 kilometer of their homes, except for commuting to workplaces that have been defined as essential, seeking medical care, attending legal proceedings, and exercising.
Restaurants and shops have been closed, except for deliveries.
Unlike in the two previous lockdowns, kindergartens, schools for children under six, as well as secondary schools for grades 11 and 12, remain open.
The Israeli health ministry reported early onDec 27 a total of 400,099 infections and 3,222 deaths.
In India, Asia’s worst-hit country, the COVID-19 tally rose to 10,207,871 on Dec 28, as 20,021 new cases were registered from the previous day, federal health ministry figures showed.