On Sunday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICC) announced nearly 38 000 new positive cases of Covid-19 making it a new record number for daily cases, which easily surpassed the old record of 26 645 that came at the height of the third wave on July 3.
But the NICC stressed that over half of the new reported cases were retrospective cases after an “IT glitch” hampered the reporting of these cases.
“Today we report 37,875 new cases, which includes 19,840 retrospective cases and 18,035 new cases. In the past 24 hours, a total of 18,035 positive Covid-19 cases have been reported. The positivity testing rate today is 28.9%,” said the NICD in a statement.
Amid the flurry of new cases, President Cyril Ramaphosa attended former apartheid president FW de Klerk’s memorial in Cape Town on Sunday where he delivered the eulogy and focused on the need for forgiveness.
“Frederik Willem de Klerk was born of the African soil. And it is to the African soil that he returned within the warm embrace of the African soil, he shall forever remain. I call on all of us to release him, so that he may be at peace,” said Ramaphosa.
After departing the memorial, the president complained that he was feeling ill and subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 but is displaying mild symptoms and is in “good spirits” said minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele.
Ramaphosa, 69, was vaccinated against Covid-19 in February when he received the single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine. He will self-isolate in Cape Town and has delegated all presidential responsibilities for the next week to Deputy President David Mabuza.
The competition commission reached an agreement with laboratories Ampath and Lancet to lower the fee for a Covid-19 PCR test from R850 to R500 said competition commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele.
When the PCR tests first became available in February of last year the price was set at an eyewatering R1400 before being reduced to R850 said Bonakele. The latest reduction in price comes after an investigation by the Competition Tribunal that commenced in October.
And in some more good news, Gift of the Givers chief, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said his organisation had been inundated with requests for emergency oxygen during the first three waves but during the first 16 days of the current fourth wave, Gift of the Givers have received almost no requests for oxygen supplies.
The Omicron variant is showing less severe symptoms than the variants that came before it while vaccination is also helping to keep people from needing to be admitted to hospital beds.
In the markets, “the highest US CPI print in 39 years briefly caused some volatility in currency markets before prices settled back, and the Dollar actually lost a bit of ground. The 6.8% YoY rise was precisely in-line with market estimates, and markets are now focussing on this week’s Fed FOMC for clearer direction”, comments TreasuryONE. The rand ended the day at R15.97 to the US dollar and will start the new week at R15.96/$ while the markets will keep a close eye on the monetary policy meetings of the ECB, BOE and the Bank of Japan, all due this week.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
- Sasol denies industrial pollution allegations made by whistle-blower – Daily Maverick
- Shell maintains Wild Coast seismic survey is necessary, will be safe – Fin24
- Covid-19’s work-from-home plans hit Gautrain – Mail & Guardian
Global Business
- Rwanda turns to electric motorbikes to drive down emissions – AFP
- Alibaba fires woman who claimed sexual assault – BBC News
- Activist group targets Exxon with shareholder climate resolution – Reuters
Markets
- Gold Up Over U.S. Inflation Data, Key Central Bank Decisions Loom – Investing.com
- Asia stocks rise, markets ready for central bank parade – Reuters
- Stocks Aided by China Signals; Pound Dips on Virus: Markets Wrap – Bloomberg
Opinion/In-depth
- Ace Magashule’s R255m case ‘bears hallmarks of corruption’, says Free State prosecuting authority – Daily Maverick
- Competition Commission’s concentration and participation economy report is ideological rubbish – Daily Maverick
- Former Transnet exec Tau Morwe on SA’s rail disaster: “Bring back the Railway Police” – BizNews
Video
- New body set up to probe origins of COVID-19 – eNCA
- COVID-19 Vaccine | Provinces increase vaccination sites – eNCA
- SA’s Electricity Crisis | 20% tariff hike looms – eNCA
