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South Africa experienced over 50% infections in 24 hours as new Covid-19 wave hits town

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There has been a major setback in the fight against the global pandemic, Covid-19 in South Africa. Health authority says a new wave of the deadly virus driven by two new Omicron sub-variants in the country has led to a more than 50% increase in infections in 24 hours.

South Africa’s Health Minister Joe Phaahla, hinted last week that the country may be entering a fifth COVID-19 wave earlier than expected following a sustained rise in infections over the past 14 days.

Worldometers reports that South Africa ranks 20 in the global ratings of death cases amongst 226 countries it collected data. That puts the country at the top of the list of cases and casualties in African countries.

The country relaxed mandatory negative results for inbound fully-vaccinated travellers, and other Covid-19 protocols last month but it appears the country might be forced to return to the relaxed rules with the development of the new wave.

According to official figures released on Thursday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases counted 9,757 new cases of Covid-19 in the country, 50% more than the 6,170 new cases counted the day before on Wednesday. 64 new deaths were also reported.

Two new Omicron sub-variants, whose virulence has yet to be determined, are causing the new wave of Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

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Sudan War: Gen. Al-Burhan says he’s ready for peace talks

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Sudan’s Army Chief, Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan says he is now open for peace talks that could bring the war in the country to an end.

Before the surprise announcement on Friday, Al-Burhan had maintained a non-compromising stance and had refused all entreaties to enter into negotiations with his former number two man and main rival, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of the Rapid Support Force (RSF).

However, Al-Burhan, in a statement in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), said he had not sought military support on a recent regional tour and that his preference was for a peaceful solution to the conflict that has killed thousands and displaced millions of civilians.

“Every war ends in peace, whether through negotiations or force. We are proceeding on those two paths, and our preferred path is the path of negotiations,” Al-Burhan said.

Al-Burhan added that he believed that talks by Saudi Arabia and the United States in Jeddah which were stalled could still succeed.

In recent weeks, Al-Burhan has made a series of foreign visits after remaining holed up in Sudan for the first few months of the war, often sending representatives for talks.

In one of his visits to Cairo, Egypt, the Army Chief had said the purpose was to seek solutions and not military support, though he had asked other states to block external help that he claimed the RSF was receiving.

“We asked our neighbors to help us monitor the borders to stop the flow of mercenaries,” he had said.

The Sudan war which broke out between the army and the RSF in April 15 over plans for a political transition and the integration of the RSF into the army, has seen thousands of civilians killed and millions of others forced to flee the country.

Several ceasefire agreements entered into by the warring factions have been breached with both sides trading blames on their culpability, while previous claims by both sides that they want peace have failed to stop bloodshed.

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Nigeria’s Presidency apologises for UNGA goof

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The Nigerian Presidency has apologised over a blunder it made when announcing that President Bola Tinubu was the first African leader to ring the bell at the close of trade at the National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System (NASDAQ) in the United States.

Tinubu had, on Wednesday, rang the closing bell at the NASDAQ headquarters in New York City on the sidelines of the 78th edition of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), and used the opportunity to advance his foreign investment push in front of financial markets at the famous stock exchange.

“It’s a great honour for me to be here. I am happy to bring Nigeria to your doorsteps and I am honoured that we are here, today, with a bubbling Nigerian stock market that will evolve in the West African sub-region,” he said.

‘’The greatest economy in Africa is Nigeria. There is an immense opportunity in Nigeria, where you can invest your money without fear,” the president added.

Shortly after the ringing of the bell, the Presidency released a statement claiming that Tinubu had entered the history books as the first leader of an African country to get the honour of ringing the NASDAQ bell.

“In honour of President Bola Tinubu’s determined global push to aggressively attract foreign direct investment into Nigeria.

“The world’s second largest stock exchange, the National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System (NASDAQ), on Wednesday in the world’s financial capital, invited President Tinubu to ring the closing bell. Making him the first African President to ever receive the honour,” the statement, issued by presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale said.

However, following a backlash, and fact-finding by Nigerians and media outlets that revealed that Tinubu was not the first African leader to ring the bell, the presidency, in a statement on Friday, retracted its claim and tendered an apology.

In the apology issued by Ngelale, the presidency said it later found out that a former African leader had previously rung the bell at NASDAQ, thereby debunking the initial claim of Tinubu’s historic achievement.

“We inadvertently referred to President Bola Tinubu as the first African leader to ring the bell at NASDAQ on Wednesday in New York, based on the information provided by a third-party event organiser.

“We have since found out that this information was/is incorrect as a former African leader has indeed had the privilege. This error is sincerely regretted,” the statement said.

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