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The Covid-19 lockdown slowed the economy to a point where businesses across all sectors are operating below capacity.  (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

South Africa gets R11-bn booster shot from the World Bank to fight Covid-19

As the country battles the pandemic, the World Bank loan will assist to boost the economy

Scientists hopeful future Covid variants will be less severe

The lower severity of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 indicates that a stronger immune response has been built over time

Video

How your body can protect you from getting sick with Omicron

Omicron’s many mutations allow it to duck our body’s natural defence, but the immune system has a some tricks to prevent you from getting severely ill

Spreading a measure of safety: Healthcare workers wait for doses to start vaccinating people with Pfizer vaccines at the Bertha Gxowa Hospital in Germiston. (Michele Spatari/AFP)

How quickly Omicron is spreading in South Africa?

The Omicron variant’s spread across South Africa has already surpassed the peak of the Delta-driven third wave. Here’s what the data tells us so far about how quickly Omicron…

A nurse waits inside the bus for the day to start. South Africa is now in its fourth wave of Covid-19. (David Harrison/M&G)

Western Cape enters fourth Covid-19 wave

With an average of 1 600 new daily cases, the province is not recording the same rapid increases in hospital admissions and deaths as previous waves

Africa’s largest mobile operator by subscription, MTN, has called off its talks with Telkom about a proposed takeover.

MTN staff members who refuse vaccination will be fired

MTN has joined the list of companies that have made vaccines mandatory

Former chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng

The Gospel According to Saint MoMo

If the former chief justice can cure HIV/Aids, surely he can unvaccinate the vaccinated? But not before he’s president

Nurses treat patients infected with Covid-19 at ward number 20 of the Tembisa Hospital in Tembisa, on March 2, 2021. (Photo by Guillem Sartorio / AFP) (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO/AFP via Getty Images)

Covid-19 hospital admissions on the rise in Gauteng as fourth wave looms

Most of the admissions are of unvaccinated and younger people, but there are fears of a spread to older people

The US and South African medicines regulators have faced legal challenges regarding information used to review and approve Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. (Guillem Sartorio/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Covid cases continue to rise as fourth wave looms

Gauteng has seen an increase of over 8000 new cases in the past day

Citizens receive Covid-19 vaccine at the Gautrain Sandton Station pop-up vaccination site on September 10, 2021 in Johannesburg, South Africa.  According to reports Gauteng health department has instituted Covid-19 pop-up vaccination sites to meet the demand and to reach as many people as possible. (Photo by Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Covid-19 vaccines still protect against severe illness from the Omicron variant

The vast majority of hospital admissions in Gauteng are of unvaccinated people, data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases shows

President Cyril Ramaphosa. (GCIS)

Mandatory vaccination on cards as Ramaphosa keeps South Africa on level one lockdown

Ramaphosa calls out world leaders for irrational travel bans as scientists gather evidence on new Omicron variant

(Photo by Deaan Vivier/Beeld/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Covid-19 fourth wave likely to be less severe, but caution still advised

Current models suggest the fourth wave will have fewer hospital admissions

Only about 15% of the population — nine million people —has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to Wits University vaccinologist Professor Shabir Madhi.

By Monday 40% of adults will have had at least one Covid-19 jab, says health minister

Joe Phaahla expressed concern about the slow vaccine uptake among young adults and said it was vital to speed up vaccination as the festive season neared

How South Africa’s ivermectin use slips through the cracks

There is less demand for ivermectin when South Africa is between Covid-19 waves. But nobody is tracking how many people may be using the animal formulation

South Africa’s move to Covid alert level 1 is good for business, but what about health?

Scientists say the country needs to significantly improve vaccination rates

brewers warn that a festive season prohibition will negate any recovery in the sector

Beer industry welcomes lifting of Covid-19 alcohol ban

But brewers warn that a festive season prohibition will negate any recovery in the sector

Mandatory vaccination involves, at a glance, the constitutional rights to bodily integrity, privacy, to protection against unfair discrimination and to freedom of thought, religion, conscience and opinion. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

MPs condemn mandatory vaccinations for employees

President Cyril Ramaphosa told parliament that nobody should be forced to have the vaccine, but constitutional rights were not absolute

Since mid-July, the number of vaccines administered has consistently hit more than 200 000 jabs a day. By 31 August more than 12-million jabs had been administered. (Photo by LUCA SOLA / AFP)

What we know about the C.1.2 Covid variant, so far

Experts studying the new variant, C.1.2, are surprised by its substantial mutations but are confident current vaccines will be effective against it

A health worker screens  a resident at Diepsloot Covid-19 screening and testing site at Diepsloot Sarafina Park on May 08, 2020 in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is reported that more than 12 000 people have been screened and over 1000 people tested in Diepsloot. The Premier urged the people of Diepsloot to continue practicing safety measures including social distancing and wearing cloth masks when leaving home. (Photo by Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

How do we know if SA is in a third Covid-19 wave — and could there be a fourth?

A team working with the country’s Covid ministerial advisory committee uses a formula to keep tabs on the rise of infections. Here’s how it works