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omicron variantlatest news & developments
Epidemic control workers who perform nucleic acid tests wear protective clothing to protect against the spread of COVID-19 as they ride shared bicycles in a nearly empty street in the Central Business District on November 23, 2022 in Beijing, China. In an effort to try to bring rising cases under control, the local government last week closed most stores and restaurants for inside dining, switched  schools to online studies, and asked people to work from home. Though the government recently revised its COVID strategy, it has said it will continue to stick to its strict zero tolerance policy with mandatory testings, quarantines and lockdowns in many areas in an effort to control the spread of the virus. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

China flip-flops over zero-Covid in the face of rising protests

Easing of restrictions marks a shift in policy, but Beijing’s stance remains hazy and inconsistent

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)

Covid-19 in South Africa: Which approach should we take now?

The trick to tackling Covid-19 at this stage is to be adaptive. The government’s one-size-fits-all approach is broken; we need to be more flexible. But we should not throw away…

Rights and responsibilities: Some protesters feel wearing a mask or having a vaccine impedes their free will, but religious people defer to the will of God as a rule. Does God not want us to protect one another, wonders our columnist? Photo by Rodger Bosch/AFP

Vaccine conundrums to keep one up at night

Why do religious leaders feel no compunction to harm their followers, when they could ‘pray for the destruction of a satanic vaccine’ instead?

In this photo illustration a close-up of a positive coronavirus lateral flow test can be seen in front of a Christmas tree on December 26, 2021 in Cardiff, Wales. A revised version of alert level two measures was introduced on Boxing day at 6am to help mitigate the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant. (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)

‘Unclean!’ Or how to tell people you’re Covid-positive

After 20 months of caution, I let my guard down. Now I feel terrible

Brigitte Macron intends to file a legal complaint to sue over the disinformation.

Brigitte Macron targeted by transphobic fake news

For several months, messages have multiplied on social networks claiming that Brigitte Macron, born as Brigitte Trogneux, is a transgender woman whose first name at birth was…

Africa braces for high-stakes Davos meet

World Economic Forum ‘will defer’ Davos meeting over Omicron fears

The high-powered meeting scheduled for January 17-21 will instead be held in “early summer”, the organisers said.

The UK will remove South Africa and other African countries it recently placed on its travel red list at midnight on Wednesday

Airline association welcomes UK travel red list U-turn on Africa

The UK will remove South Africa and other African countries it recently placed on its travel red list at midnight on Wednesday

Has Africa taken its foot off the pedal in the race to secure enough Covid-19 vaccines for all?

Africa’s problem is vaccine access, not hesitancy

Omicron has shown up the racism of the West and highlighted inequalities and failures in our own countries. We need to tackle these to get more people vaccinated

Nowhere to go: Zimbabwean
special permit holders outside Home Affairs.
(Madelene Cronjé)

Zimbabweans living in South Africa may be unable to travel home for the holidays

According to the government’s latest Covid-19 guidelines, anyone coming into Zimbabwe must quarantine in a hotel for 10 days — at their own expense

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

Panic at the border: South Africa’s clever scientists discovered the Omicron Covid-19 variant last week. (Ashish Vaishnav/Sopa Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)

The anomaly of Covid-19: Living in an in-between space

The coronavirus pandemic, and ensuing variants, mean we can’t make plans without the prospect of last-minute cancellations. But there’s precious little we can do about it

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

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

(Mail & Guardian)

Editorial: The West dithers, but South Africa has to take some responsibility for this wave

We can’t bury our heads in the sand: there is no way to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic other than vaccination. South Africa — and the rest of Africa — still has a long way to go

It’s time to get vaccinated because the Covid viral firestorm is spreading fast. (Photo by Xabiso Mkhabela/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Omicron variant of Covid the dominant strain in South Africa

It’s time to get vaccinated because the Covid viral firestorm is spreading fast

Zimbabwean Nationals wait outside Home Affairs in Pretoria for days for permits in 2021. (Madelene Cronjé)

What the Omicron variant and Mashaba’s election ticket have in common

Stigmatising the marginalised is driven by vested interests, both in the case of African foreign nationals subject to xenophobia and South Africans facing economic doom

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