COVID-19: ANGOLA RECOVERS 1,774 PATIENTS IN 24 HOURS

 Luanda - Health authorities announced this Thursday the recovery of 1,774 patients, 50 new cases and 2 deaths, in the last 24 hours.

Among those recovered, according to the daily bulletin, 1,754 reside in Luanda, 11 in Cuando Cubango, 8 in Malanje and 1 in Huila.

As for the new cases, 30 were diagnosed in Luanda, 6 in Uige, 4 in Cabinda, 4 in Huila, 2 in Malanje, 2 in Huambo, 1 in Cunene and 1 in Zaire.

Aged between 1 month and 74 years, of the new patients 32 are male and 18 female.

In the last 24 hours, the laboratories processed 4,237 samples by RT-PCR, with a daily positivity rate of 1.2 percent.

One death was registered in Luanda and one in Malanje.

Angola has 64,583 confirmed cases, of which 1,718 deaths, 56,590 recovered and 6,275 active. Of the active cases, 11 are critical, 5 serious, 30 moderate, 22 light and 6,207 asymptomatic.

At treatment centres, 68 patients are hospitalised, while 61 citizens are serving institutional quarantine and 971 contacts of positive cases are under medical surveillance.

Covid: Record German cases as WHO warns of Europe deaths

 Germany has recorded almost 34,000 daily Covid cases in the past 24 hours, its highest number so far, in what the health minister is calling a “massive pandemic of the unvaccinated”.

Sixteen million Germans have not had a jab. However hospital intensive care cases are still lower than in spring.

The World Health Organization has warned of a possible half a million more deaths in Europe by February.

Europe head Hans Kluge blamed insufficient vaccine take-up.

He said a relaxation of public health measures was also behind the rise in Covid cases in the WHO’s European region, which covers 53 countries, including parts of Central Asia.

While the Covid numbers in Germany are still well below the UK’s average daily case numbers of more than 41,000, public health officials there are worried that a fourth wave of infection could lead to a large number of deaths and pressure on the health system. In the past 24 hours 165 deaths have been recorded, up from 126 a week ago.

Lothar Wieler of Germany’s RKI institute spoke of terrifying numbers. “If we don’t take counter-measures now, this fourth wave will bring yet more suffering,” he said. Among the many Germans who have not been vaccinated are more than three million over-60s, seen at particular risk.

German restaurants and cafes require people to have proof of vaccination or recovery before entry, or in many cases a negative test, but the rules are not always applied.

Health Minister Jens Spahn said he had been asked more times for his vaccination certificate in one day in Rome at the weekend than he had been over four weeks in Germany.

• Covid passes set to stay as Europe heads for winter

But as Hans Kluge points out, the surge in cases is not confined to Germany.

Russia and Ukraine have seen the most dramatic rises in infections and deaths.

data in detail

Scroll table to see more data

*Deaths per 100,000 people

Erdogan: Turkey investigates posts about president’s health

 Turkish authorities have opened a legal inquiry against 30 people accused of tweeting disinformation about the health of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

They posted “manipulative content” on Twitter using the hashtag #olmus (dead in Turkish), police said.

The hashtag started trending amid mounting speculation about Mr Erdogan’s health.

Allies sought to quell those rumours by sharing images of his engagements.

Rival politicians who oppose Mr Erdogan’s government often question the president’s health, and unsubstantiated rumours have been swirling for years.

Mr Erdogan, 67, had surgery on his lower intestine in 2011. Since then, the president has frequently gone on record to deny reports he had cancer.

• PROFILE:Turkey’s pugnacious president

As renewed speculation surfaced on social media this week, officials from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) posted about the president’s activities.

On Wednesday, Mr Erdogan attended several events in the capital Ankara to mark the 19th anniversary of his conservative party assuming power in the country.

“The chief has arrived from Istanbul to Ankara,” one AKP party member, Ahmet Hamdi Camli, wrote. “He is very healthy.”

Meanwhile Mr Erdogan’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, tweeted a brief video that showed the president walking along after getting out of his official car.

“Trust to friends, fear to enemies,” Mr Altun wrote.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

Turkish media say speculation about Mr Erdogan’s health was reignited by a video that showed the president walking gingerly last Friday.

When similar rumours of ill health emerged last month, Mr Erdogan’s communications office shared a video of the president playing basketball.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

Mr Erdogan’s intestinal surgery in 2011 was reported by Turkish media, but otherwise official public statements on his health are rare.

The president has been seen dozing off at events before, but he keeps a busy schedule. He frequently appears in public and gives multiple speeches a day.

Mr Erdogan recently travelled to Africa for a three-day tour, as well as Rome for the G20 summit of world leaders.

Mr Erdogan was scheduled to attend the the COP26 UN climate conference in Glasgow on Monday, but cancelled the trip for what his office said were security reasons.

Mr Erdogan has dominated Turkish politics for decades, as president since 2014 and prime minister before that from 2003 to 2014. The next Turkish presidential election is due to be held in 2023.

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Support for South Africa’s ANC drops below 50%

 Electoral support for the African National Congress has fallen below 50% for the first time since the start of the democratic era in 1994.

The party polled 46% countrywide in Monday’s local elections, the electoral commission says.

Its closest rival, the Democratic Alliance got a 22% share of the vote and Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters won 10%.

In the last local election in 2016, the ANC polled 54%.

The next general election in set for 2024.

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World Health Organisation Warns Europe Once Again At Epicenter of Pandemic

 Europe is once again “at the epicentre” of the Covid pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, as cases soar across the continent.

At a press conference WHO Europe head Hans Kluge said the continent could see half a million more deaths by February. He blamed insufficient vaccine take-up for the rise.
“We must change our tactics, from reacting to surges of COVID-19 to preventing them from happening in the first place,” he said.
The rate of vaccination has slowed across the continent in recent months. While some 80% of people in Spain are double jabbed, that number is lower in France and Germany – at 68% and 66% respectively – and lower still in some central and eastern European countries. Only 32% of Russians were fully vaccinated by October 2021.

Mr. Kluge also blamed a relaxation of public health measures for rising infections in the WHO’s European region, which covers 53 countries including parts of Central Asia. So far the WHO has recorded 1.4 million deaths across the region.

The WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19, Maria Van Kerkhove, said over the past four weeks cases across Europe had soared over 55%, despite an “ample supply of vaccines and tools”, and colleague Dr Mike Ryan said Europe’s experience was a “warning shot for the world”. It came as Germany recorded almost 34,000 daily COVID cases in the past 24 hours, a record rise.

While the Covid numbers in Germany are below the UK’s latest daily case numbers of more than 37,000, public health officials are worried that a fourth wave of infection could lead to a large number of deaths and pressure on the health system. In the past 24 hours 165 deaths have been recorded, up from 126 a week ago.

Lothar Wieler of Germany’s RKI institute spoke of terrifying numbers. “If we don’t take counter-measures now, this fourth wave will bring yet more suffering,” he said. Among the many Germans who have not been vaccinated are more than three million over-60s, seen at particular risk. But as Hans Kluge pointed out, the surge in cases is not confined to Germany.

The most dramatic rises in fatalities have been in the past week in Russia, where more than 8,100 deaths were recorded, and Ukraine, with 3,800 deaths. Both countries have very low rates of vaccination and Ukraine announced a record 27,377 new cases in the past 24 hours. The past data for new cases is a three day rolling average. Due to revisions in the number of cases, an average cannot be calculated for this date.

Romania recorded its highest number of deaths in 24 hours this week at 591 while in Hungary, daily Covid infections have more than doubled in the past week to 6,268. Mask-wearing is only required on public transport and in hospitals. “At the moment we seem to be hell-bent on a course that says the pandemic is over, we just need to vaccinate a few more people. That is not the case,” said Dr Ryan, who called for every country to plug the holes in their response.

This week the Dutch government said it would reimpose mask-wearing and social distancing in many public settings as it emerged that hospital admissions had gone up 31% in a week. Latvia meanwhile is imposing a three-month state of emergency from Monday amid a record level of COVID infection.

Croatia recorded 6,310 new cases on Thursday, its highest number so far. Slovakia has reported its second highest number of cases and Czech infections have returned to levels last seen in spring.

England’s deputy chief medical officer Prof Jonathan Van-Tam said on Wednesday that too many people believed the pandemic was over.However, in countries with the highest vaccination rates, infection rates are still relatively low. Italy has one of the highest vaccination rates for over-12s but even here new cases are up 16.6% in the past week.

Portuguese infections have risen above 1,000 for the first time since September. Spain is one of the few countries not to see a rise in transmission with 2,287 cases reported on Wednesday.

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