Aspen SA To Produce Its Own Vaccine

Aspen Pharmacare has secured a deal with Johnson & Johnson to make and sell a COVID-19 vaccine under its own brand.

On Tuesday, Aspen SA said the new deal would form the basis for negotiations of a definitive agreement on the manufacturing and sale of an Aspen-branded vaccine throughout Africa.

The new vaccine will be called Aspenovax.

It said this was subject to the signing of the definitive agreement lasting until 31 December 2026.

As part of the deal, J&J will grant Aspen a licence to its intellectual property.

It will also supply the substance for the jabs.

Through a previous agreement with Johnson & Johnson, Aspen has been filling and finishing over a hundred-million doses for distribution in Africa.

This is good news for Africa, which has seen a slower rollout compared to western countries.

Read the full statement here

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UWC Adopts Mandatory COVID Vaccine Policy

The University of the Western Cape on Tuesday said its decision to adopt a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy for the 2022 academic year followed a lengthy consultative process and robust engagement.

The interim policy – which makes provision for certain exemptions on a case-by-case basis – will be reviewed at the end of the first semester next year.

The institution said a general soft mandate would apply that would require all staff and students to be vaccinated in order to enter campus or attend university events. Students who are not vaccinated will be permitted to register for their relevant degree or module but may not enter campus or attend events.

This mandate does not apply to students and staff in faculties or programmes including the Faculty of Dentistry, and programmes such as Nursing and Pharmacy, among others.

The hard mandate applies in these cases that will require students to be vaccinated in order to register at UWC.

Flexible online learning and teaching will continue in most faculties for 2022.

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WHO Urges People Over 60 To Avoid International Travel

The World Health Organization is urging over 60’s to avoid international travel.

This is as the world grapples with the new Omicron variant.

The advice extends to those who are unwell or vulnerable.

But, the organisation maintains its stance that blanket travel bans will not prevent the spread.

It rather says restrictions will hinder global health efforts.

Countries hastily placed travel bans on Southern Africa after scientists identified the variant.

But, it’s now emerged it was detected in the Netherlands a week before South Africa reported it.

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NICD Reports 4 373 New COVID-19 Cases In SA

The NICD reports 4,373 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,968,052. This increase represents a 10.2% positivity rate.

As per the National Department of Health, a further 21 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89,843to date.

19,477,054 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector	Total tested	New tested
Private	10,458,181	53.7%	21,647	50.7%
Public	9,018,873	46.3%	21,017	49.3%
Total	19,477,054	100.0%	42,664	100.0%

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (72%), followed by Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, each accounting for 6%. Limpopo and North West accounted for 5% respectively; Mpumalanga 3%, Free State 2% and Eastern Cape 1%. Northern Cape accounted for less than 1% of today’s new cases.

The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:

Province	Total cases for 29 November 2021	Adjusted numbers after harmonisation	Updated total cases on 29 November 2021	New cases on 30 November 2021	Total cases for 30 November 2021	Percentage total
Eastern Cape	293,174	0	293,174	65	293,239	9.9
Free State	165,527	0	165,527	70	165,597	5.6
Gauteng	943,720	0	943,720	3,143	946,863	31.9
KwaZulu-Natal	518,332	0	518,332	259	518,591	17.5
Limpopo	123,506	0	123,506	204	123,710	4.2
Mpumalanga	153,836	0	153,836	139	153,975	5.2
North West	154,090	0	154,090	200	154,290	5.2
Northern Cape	93,325	0	93,325	18	93,343	3.1
Western Cape	518,169	0	518,169	275	518,444	17.5
Total	2,963,679	0	2,963,679	4,373	2,968,052	100.0

THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE

The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 10.2% which is lower than yesterday (10.7%). The 7-day average is 8.5% today, which is higher than yesterday (7.3%)

For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 119 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. The following table is a summary of reported COVID-19 admissions by sector.

Sector	Facilities Reporting	Admissions to Date	Died to Date	Currently Admitted
Private	258	201,249	37,357	1,323
Public	407	236,639	57,227	1,091
TOTAL	665	437,888	94,584	2,414

VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.

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Hospitals Seeing More Young People Being Admitted In Gauteng

Gauteng is seeing a lot more young people being hospitalised with Covid-19.

The province is currently leading the country’s coronavirus infections.

“We see that the contribution, the fraction of people over 60 that get hospitalised is significantly lower and now most of the people that are hospitalised are younger than 40,” said Professor Bruce Mellado from the Gauteng Advisory Committee on Covid-19.

South Africa currently has 2,273 COVID-19 cases.

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Concerns Latest Fuel Price Hike Will Have Consequences For Consumers

With the price of petrol now breaking through R20 a litre from midnight, there are concerns that this will have dire consequences for consumers.

Two major consecutive increases have seen petrol prices go up by more than R2 a litre.

The AA’s Layton Beard said that the knock-on effects, including inflation, would be dire.

The Mineral Resources and Energy Department said that the weakening of the rand over the past month, along with high oil prices, were the main drivers of the increases.

However, South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago warned last week that the bank would move to counter inflationary pressures, with the repo rate already being increased by 25 basis points.

The Automobile Association also called on government to change the mechanism used to calculate fuel prices.

Beard said that there needed to be change.

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Alcohol Industry Urges Government To Take Measured Approach

South Africa’s alcohol industry is strongly urging government that any further responses to the growth in COVID-19 infections should avoid sudden restrictions that would cause needless financial shocks to businesses.

South African Liquor Brandowners Association said that the economic recovery of the alcohol, tourism and hospitality sectors were paramount to protect employment and grow the economy to pre-COVID-19 levels.

He added that despite all the knee-jerk global response to the announcement of the new variant in the country, government had some control over what happened to the domestic market.

VinPro managing director Rico Basson said that it was extremely important that government consulted thoroughly and was informed about the impact that any decisions regarding COVID-19 and possible restrictions may have on the respective sectors, their workforce.

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NICD Reports 2273 New COVID-19 Cases

The NICD reports 2,273 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,963,679. This increase represents a 10.7% positivity rate.

As per the National Department of Health, a further 25 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89 822 to date.

19,434,381 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector	Total tested	New tested
Private	10,436,525	53.7%	14,985	70.3%
Public	8,997,856	46.3%	6,317	29.7%
Total	19,434,381	100.0%	21,302	100.0%

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (84%), followed Western Cape accounting for 5%. KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 3%; Mpumalanga and North West each accounted for 2% respectively; Free State and Limpopo each accounted for 1%. Eastern Cape and Northern Cape each accounted for less than 1% of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:

Province	Total cases for 28 November 2021	Adjusted numbers after harmonisation	Updated total cases on 28 November 2021	New cases on 29 November 2021	Total cases for 29 November 2021	Percentage total
Eastern Cape	293,164	0	293 164	10	293 174	9.9
Free State	165,506	0	165 506	21	165 527	5.6
Gauteng	941,810	1	941 811	1 909	943 720	31.8
KwaZulu-Natal	518,269	0	518 269	63	518 332	17.5
Limpopo	123,473	0	123 473	33	123 506	4.2
Mpumalanga	153,783	0	153 783	53	153 836	5.2
North West	154,035	0	154 035	55	154 090	5.2
Northern Cape	93,316	-1	93 315	10	93 325	3.1
Western Cape	518,050	0	518 050	119	518 169	17.5
Unknown	0	0	0	0	0	0.0
Total	2 961 406	0	2 961 406	2 273	2 963 679	100.0

THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE

The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 10.7% which higher than yesterday (9.8%). The 7-day average is 7.3% today, which is higher than yesterday (6.1%).

For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 79 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. The following table is a summary of reported COVID-19 admissions by sector.

Sector	Facilities Reporting	Admissions to Date	Died to Date	Currently Admitted
Private	258	201,115	37,356	1,253
Public	407	236,445	57,214	1,075
TOTAL	665	437,560	94,570	2,328

VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.

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My Smart City Platform Speeds Up Service Delivery In Cape Town, Driven By Private And Public Sector Collaboration

The My Smart City team in Cape Town is reporting improved turnaround times for the resolution of reported service delivery issues logged onto its platform in Cape Town.

My Smart City has reported a four-fold improvement in resolving service delivery issues like water outages, broken traffic lights, potholes, and power outages from inception until the current day. This insight proves that My Smart City is making great strides in streamlining service delivery issues being wrestled with by citizens.

My Smart City is a free citizen’s platform that allows city residents to engage service providers within a city. The platform has been available in Cape Town for five months and is also being used successfully in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.

“The My Smart City support team has been on the virtual frontline of assisting with service delivery issues in our major cities and we have heard first-hand, the frustrations faced by South African citizens when logging service delivery issues. From trying to identify the correct municipal channels, to engaging on long calls with officials, these challenges have been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic,” explains CEO of Acumen Software, Joao Zoio.

Despite these disruptions and delays to service delivery caused by the pandemic, data extracted from the My Smart City platform shows a significant improvement in fault logging procedures and turnaround times Cape Town and other Cities.

“Our teams have seen positive results through collaborating effectively with Cape Town’s Municipal support teams and fault reporting channels. This has enabled the My Smart City dispatch centre to be more efficient in dealing with issues reported by citizens,” says Zoio.

The City of Cape Town’s municipality is geared up to engage with the private sector through its Open Data Portal and through their standard application program interface (API) which allows private organisations to integrate into their Customer Relations Management (CRM) system.

“The City of Cape Town’s team has supported and assisted with the integration of the My Smart City platform through their standard API.  The interface allows citizens to log issues on their mobile device and the issues are then immediately sent to the City of Cape Town’s system via the interface. This has alleviated the need for human intervention and has sped up call logging times,” explains Zoio.

All pending faults are expedited by the My Smart City dispatch centre team ensuring that nothing slips through the cracks. The dispatch centre reviews issues that have reached a certain age and provides citizens with support by escalating and prioritising these aging reported issues.

My Smart City users in Cape Town have found the platform to be extremely beneficial and have expressed their gratitude for having access to a channel that is easy to use and is accessible wherever they may be. One resident has written in to say, “This app really looks awesome and (is) very informative, which can be used as a good tool for us in assisting the community.  Well done to the team involved and importantly to you for actually keeping in touch and reporting back.”

My Smart City had one user in Cape Town who had consistently reported her broken streetlights for six months prior to logging her issue with My Smart City. Before using the app, the resident’s fault was being closed with no resolution and she had been desperate to have the issue resolved as she felt unsafe and anxious about becoming a potential victim of crime. She had even tried liaising with her local ward councillor and still had no resolution. The My Smart City team were able to ensure that her query finally received the attention it needed. As soon as the technicians were outside of her home to fix the streetlights, she contacted the My Smart City team on the spot to relay her thanks. 

“The integration of the My Smart City platform into the City of Cape Town’s systems highlights the benefit to citizens when municipalities and businesses work together and collaborate with the goal of improving the lives of their citizens,” says Zoio.

If we are going to recover from COVID 19, we as private citizens have to get involved in the running of our cities to ensure that the city truly works for us. My Smart City is the citizen platform that creates the environment for citizens to stand together and effect change in their cities. Download the My Smart City App from the Google Play Store or the Apple App store today and strengthen the voice of the people.

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Labour Unions Welcome Move To Consider Mandatory COVID Vaccinations

Labour unions have welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s move to consider mandatory vaccinations.

The president on Sunday night said that the country would remain on alert level one but that people should vaccinate.

A task team will be established to consider restricting entry to unvaccinated people at some places.

Trade union federation Saftu is meeting for its central executive committee meeting on Monday and mandatory vaccines for workers is expected to be at the top of the agenda.

Spokesperson Trevor Shaku said that the majority of the workers were in favour of making vaccines mandatory but there were also concerns.

“The only concern that we have is that there are some employers who will be weaponising this, targeting workers to dismiss them without following due process,” Shaku said.

Last month, the South African Human Rights (SAHRC) commission found that it would not necessarily be a human rights infringement to compel citizens to get vaccinated and that it would be constitutionally sound.

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Omicron Proves That Fourth Wave Is Coming – Ramaphosa

The emergence of the Omicron variant and the exponential rise in COVID-19 infections in South Africa shows that the fourth wave is imminent and may hit in the next few weeks, according to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is urging South Africans to vaccinate against the virus.

“The most powerful tool we have is vaccination,”  Ramaphosa said.

“Since the first COVID-19 vaccines became available late last year, we have seen how vaccines have dramatically reduced severe illness, hospitalisation and death in South Africa and across the world.”

The COVID-19 infection rate has climbed significantly over the last week, with close to 3,000 infections being reported countrywide.

Gauteng remains the worst affected.

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Booking Agents Swamped With Cancellations

At least half a million travel bookings to South Africa have been cancelled in just 48 hours, according to a snap survey of 600 travel agents, conducted by the Southern African Tourism Services Association and the Federated Hospitality Association.

A few foreign travellers in Cape Town made last-ditch attempts to leave the country on Sunday, but many others had no choice but to ride out the ban which has put a stop to Europe-bound flights.

The travel industry estimates that if the current ban stays in place, the tourism industry could lose almost 80-percent of expected business between December and March.

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NICD Reports 2858 New COVID-19 Cases In SA

The NICD reports 2,858 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,961,406. This increase represents a 9.8% positivity rate. As per the National Department of Health, a further 6 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89,797to date.

19,413,079 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector	Total tested	New tested
Private	10,421,540	53.7%	19,293	66.0%
Public	8,991,539	46.3%	9,952	34.0%
Total	19,413,079	100.0%	29,245	100.0%

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (81%), followed Western Cape accounting for 5%. KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 4%; Mpumalanga and North West each accounted for 3% respectively; Limpopo accounted for 2%; and Eastern Cape, Free State and Northern Cape each accounted for 1% respectively of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:

Province	Total cases for 27  Nov 2021	Adjusted numbers after harmonisation	Updated total cases on 27 Nov 2021	New cases on 28 Nov 2021	Total cases for 28 Nov 2021	Percentage total
Eastern Cape	293,143	0	293,143	21	293,164	9.9
Free State	165,481	0	165,481	25	165,506	5.6
Gauteng	939,502	0	939,502	2,308	941,810	31.8
KwaZulu-Natal	518,167	0	518,167	102	518,269	17.5
Limpopo	123,422	0	123,422	51	123,473	4.2
Mpumalanga	153,694	0	153,694	89	153,783	5.2
North West	153,944	0	153,944	91	154,035	5.2
Northern Cape	93,293	0	93,293	23	93,316	3.2
Western Cape	517,902	0	517,902	148	518,050	17.5
Total	2,958,548	0	2,958,548	2,858	2,961,406	100.0

THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE

The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 9.8% which higher than yesterday (9.2%). The 7-day average is 6.1% today, which is higher than yesterday (5.2%).

For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 18 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. The following table is a summary of reported COVID-19 admissions by sector.

Sector	Facilities Reporting	Admissions to Date	Died to Date	Currently Admitted
Private	258	201,033	37,354	1,239
Public	407	236,210	57,189	993
TOTAL	665	437,243	94,543	2,232

VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.

Thank you for your interest and remember that adhering to the following preventative measures helps to limit your risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.

• Getting vaccinated for COVID-19
• Wearing your mask properly to cover your nose
• Opting to gather in ventilated spaces
• Avoid unnecessary gatherings
• Keeping a social distance of one meter or more
• Washing your hands regularly in the day with soap and water

For more information on COVID-19, click here.

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South Africa Remains On Alert Level 1

South Africa remains on lockdown Alert Level 1.

President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement on Sunday evening.

The president assured South Africans, “we will implement our national resurgence plan to ensure that hospitals and other medical facilities are ready for the fourth wave.”

Ramaphosa said the government has started the process of amending health regulations to review the use of the Disaster Management Act, with a view to ultimately lifting the National State of Disaster.

The president said infection rates and hospitalisation over the coming days will be monitored and reviewed in another week. 

Ramaphosa encouraged South Africans to vaccinate against COVID-19.

Talks around mandatory vaccines for certain locations and activities are ongoing. A task will report to the interministerial committee on vaccines.

“If we don’t address this urgently we will vulnerable to new variants,” Ramaphosa says.

Ramaphosa says South Africa is currently looking at booster vaccines. Healthcare workers are first in line to receive the J&J booster shot. A third Pfizer vaccine shot might also be introduced.

The curfew remains from 12 am ending at 4 am.

Public gatherings are restricted to 750 people indoors and 2,000 people outdoors.

The sale of alcohol for onsite and offsite consumption is permitted according to license conditions.

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Manchester City Brave Snowstorm In Home Win Over West Ham

Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan struck in the midst of a first-half snowstorm before a late goal from substitute Fernandinho proved enough to secure a 2-1 home victory over West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday.

The win lifts City back up to second place and level on 29 points with leaders Chelsea, who host Manchester United in the late game. West Ham, who snatched an added-time consolation with a superb Manuel Lanzini strike, stay fourth on 23 points.

“It was a very difficult day because of the weather conditions but it is always difficult against this team,” City midfielder Rodri told the BBC.

“We were lucky to get this first goal because in the first half we couldn’t play much. In the second we dominated and could have scored more.”

With thick snow falling for most of the opening half, City’s Riyadh Mahrez had the ball in the net in the 16th minute after a superb finish but his effort was ruled out for offside.

City took the lead in the 33rd minute when Mahrez drove the ball across the goal and Gundogan was on hand to steer it home.

That marked the beginning of a spell of heavy pressure from the hosts and they could have gone 2-0 up four minutes later but Gabriel Jesus’s shot was cleared off the line by Ben Johnson.

Halftime saw the snowstorm abate and an army of groundstaff cleared the pitch. West Ham then had another let-off when Aaron Cresswell made a goal-line clearance as City dominated.

It took the home side until the 90th minute to score again, however,as Jesus teed up fellow Brazilian Fernandinho to net three minutes after he came off the bench.

Having seen little to warm them up during the game, the West Ham fans finally had something to celebrate when Lanzini won the ball on the edge of the area and sent an unstoppable shot into the top right corner with the final kick of the game.

City coach Pep Guardiola paid tribute to the groundstaff at the stadium before praising the performance of his players, who had a tough Champions League game against visiting Paris Saint Germain which they won 2-1 in midweek.

“Surprised with the amount of chances we created against them. We created a few. The first half was almost impossible to play. The game against PSG was so demanding and the team gave a good performance,” he told the BBC.

“The chances we created … it could have been three or four,” he added.

Reuters

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Leicester Fire Four Goals Past Watford In Winter Wonderland

Leicester City thumped Watford 4-2 in the Premier League amid heavy snowfall which reduced visibility and made playing conditions difficult at the King Power Stadium on Sunday.

Watford boss Claudio Ranieri, who guided Leicester to their only league title against overwhelming odds in 2015-16, was given a warm welcome by the home fans but he was in for a cold afternoon as his former striker Jamie Vardy scored twice.

The win takes Leicester up to provisional ninth place on 18 points from 13 games, while Watford stay 16th on 13 points.

The match began in relatively clear conditions and Leicester took an early lead from a Watford error when William Troost-Ekong ducked under a long ball, allowing Leicester’s James Maddison to sneak in behind and beat goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann.

Watford levelled 14 minutes later after Emmanuel Dennis was tripped in the box by Wilfred Ndidi and Joshua King made no mistake in beating Kasper Schmeichel from the spot.

But as the snowfall got heavier, Vardy fired the home side ahead with two goals in eight minutes, both created by Maddison, first chipping the onrushing Bachmann before cleverly heading home from the near post at a corner kick.

“It is different (the weather), you see with the ref having to stop it. These are things you have to deal with. You have to stay professional and we did that,” Vardy told Sky Sports.

“At one point their keeper was trying to get it called off with the ref but pitches have the under-soil heating and we weren’t worried.”

A blanket of snow turned the lush green pitch white in the second half and as the visibility fell Dennis nicked the ball off a back-tracking Timothy Castagne on the hour mark to go one-on-one with Schmeichel, making it 3-2 with a controlled finish.

However, Leicester restored their two-goal cushion minutes later when Harvey Barnes skipped forward on a counter-attack and squared the ball for Ademola Lookman to tap into an empty net.

King said Watford lost to a side that showed more determination but the Norwegian striker complained about the snowfall, which forced the referee to stop the game in the second half so groundstaff could clear snow off the lines.

“Horrible to play in, you have snow on your boot and feel heavy,” King said. “I haven’t witnessed a game like that before. I couldn’t see anything but it is the same for both sides.”

The adverse weather had earlier forced Burnley’s home game against Tottenham Hotspur to be called off before kickoff.

Reuters

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Williams F1 Founder Frank Williams Dies Aged 79

Frank Williams, the founder and former team principal of the once-dominant Williams Racing Formula One team, died aged 79 on Sunday, the team announced.

“After being admitted into hospital on Friday, Sir Frank, passed away peacefully this morning surrounded by his family,” Williams Racing said in a statement.

Williams and his daughter Claire, a former deputy team principal, no longer have any involvement with the British-based F1 team after it was sold to U.S.-based Dorilton Capital last year.

Williams had been in a wheelchair since he was paralysed in a car crash in France in 1986. He was admitted to hospital in 2016 with pneumonia and again in December last year.

F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said the sport had lost a “much loved and respected member” of the F1 family.

“He was a true giant of our sport that overcame the most difficult of challenges in life and battled every day to win on and off the track,” Domenicali said in a statement.

“His incredible achievements and personality will be with etched on our sport forever. My thoughts are with all the Williams family and their friends at this sad time.”

Under Williams’ leadership, the team won nine constructors’ championships and seven drivers’ titles, most recently with Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.

Reuters

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New Variant Shakes Up South Africa’s Travel Plans

Black Friday has become quite a craze with nearly all retailers offering major discounts on products and services. Travel operator Flight Centre had planned to do the same, but cancelled their campaign when news broke of the UK’s latest red list update that includes South Africa. The company said it made the decision to ‘assist those customers who are affected by the UK government announcement that South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe will move back onto the country’s dreaded red list.

SOURCE: GETAWAY

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See Rwanda through Dian Fossey’s Gaze

Travulous, a destination management company in Rwanda, recently announced a series of exclusive tours and events personally guided and hosted by former research staff and colleagues of the legendary gorilla primatologist, the late Dian Fossey. “The impact Dian Fossey has had on gorilla conservation is still felt to this very day,” said Richard Pfaffli, co-founder of Travulous and former travel provider and tour consultant for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. In addition to being led by Fossey’s former research staff, Travulous’ 5-day gorilla trekking itineraries will also visit the original Karisoke Research Center and Fossey’s grave. On the first day, travelers will join Travulous’ exclusive Fossey-inspired welcome event with interactive after-dinner speeches presented by renowned gorilla conservation organizations.

SOURCE: TRAVEL WEEKLY

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Exploring African History in Mexico

Located in the state of Veracruz, Yanga is known today as one of the first self-liberated and independent towns in the Americas. It is named in honor of Gasper Yanga— a man of African descent. Historians believe he’s from Angola. Veracruz became an important harbor for slavery in Mexico. Many Africans and Indigenous people were captured and sold into slavery. Today, Yanga has been recognized as a UNESCO Slave Route project-designated city where you will find the Vásquez Lendechy statue of Gaspar Yanga in the town square. The statue depicts a large, muscular man of African descent with a machete in his hands, symbolizing breaking from the chains of slavery.

SOURCE: TRAVEL NOIRE

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Excellent Science Should Not Be Punished – Reactions To Travel Ban

As more cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been detected around the world, South Africa appears to be taking a bashing for disclosing its detection of the variant.

Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the WHO was informed of the findings in the interest of transparency, adding that some reactions to the discovery, including travel bans, were unwarranted.

Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokesperson Clayson Monyela believes South Africa scientists must be applauded.

“Excellent science should be applauded and not punished. The global community needs collaboration and partnerships in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

SA Tourism acting CEO Sthembiso Dlamini says the decision by some countries to ban travel to and from the country is unjust and rushed.

Dlamini says this will further derail recovery efforts in the sector.

Meanwhile, South African Airways (SAA) interim CEO Thomas Kgokolo announced that the last flight from SA to Mauritius, which was scheduled for Sunday, has been cancelled after Mauritian authorities imposed further travel restrictions on South Africa.

Dr Michael Ryan (WHO Head of Emergencies) has stressed the importance of waiting to see what the data will show.

“We’ve seen in the past, the minute there’s any kind of mention of any kind of variation and everyone is closing borders and restricting travel. It’s really important that we remain open, and stay focused,” Ryan said.

Minister Naledi Pandor said: “Whilst we respect the right of all countries to take the necessary precautionary measures to protect their citizens, we need to remember that this pandemic requires collaboration and sharing of expertise. Our immediate concern is the damage that these restrictions are causing to families, the travel and tourism industries and business”.

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NICD Reports 3 220 New COVID-19 Cases

The NICD reports 3,220 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,958,548. This increase represents a 9.2% positivity rate. As per the National Department of Health, a further 8 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89,791to date.

19,383,834 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors as per the table below.

Sector	Total tested	New tested
Private	10,402,247	53.7%	20,220	58.0%
Public	8,981,587	46.3%	14,660	42.0%
Total	19,383,834	100.0%	34,880	100.0%

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (82%), followed by North West and Western Cape each accounting for 4% respectively. KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga each accounted for 3% respectively; Limpopo accounted for 2%; and Eastern Cape, Free State and Northern Cape each accounted for 1% respectively of today’s new cases. The cumulative number of cases by province is shown in the table below:

Province	Total cases for 26  Nov 2021	Adjusted numbers after harmonisation	Updated total cases on 26 Nov 2021	New cases on 27 Nov 2021	Total cases for 27 Nov 2021	Percentage total
Eastern Cape	293,122	0	293,122	21	293,143	9.9
Free State	165,446	0	165,446	35	165,481	5.6
Gauteng	936,862	11	936,873	2,629	939,502	31.8
KwaZulu-Natal	518,057	0	518,057	110	518,167	17.5
Limpopo	123,364	-2	123,362	60	123,422	4.2
Mpumalanga	153,595	2	153,597	97	153,694	5.2
North West	153,839	-11	153,828	116	153,944	5.2
Northern Cape	93,262	0	93,262	31	93,293	3.2
Western Cape	517,781	0	517,781	121	517,902	17.5
Total	2,955,328	0	2,955,328	3,220	2,958,548	100.0

THE 7-DAY MOVING AVERAGE NUMBER OF NEW CASES BY PROVINCE

The proportion of positive new cases/total new tested today is 9.2% which is the same as yesterday (9.2%). The 7-day average is 5.2% today, which is higher than yesterday (4.3%).

For more detailed information, visit the GIS Dashboard.

HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS
There has been an increase of 30 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours. The following table is a summary of reported COVID-19 admissions by sector.

Sector	Facilities Reporting	Admissions to Date	Died to Date	Currently Admitted
Private	258	201,016	37,354	1,241
Public	407	236,191	57,188	988
TOTAL	665	437,207	94,542	2,229

VACCINE UPDATE
For updates on the national vaccine programme, click here.

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Klopp Lauds ‘Perfect Signing’ Jota After Southampton Win

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp praised Diogo Jota after he scored twice in Saturday’s 4-0 win over Southampton, describing the Portugal forward as the “perfect signing”.

Jota scored the fastest Premier League goal this season when he found the net here after 97 seconds and added another in the first half as Liverpool moved up to second place in the Premier League standings.

The 24-year-old has scored 21 goals in 46 appearances for Liverpool since joining them from fellow Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 2020.

“Diogo, exceptional player, exceptional boy,” Klopp told reporters on Saturday. “It was for us… a perfect signing because he has everything that a Liverpool player in this squad needs.

“He has the technical skills, the physical skills, and he is very smart and can learn all the tactical stuff pretty quick.”

The versatile Jota was out for three months last season due to a knee injury but has still impressed Klopp with his performance so far.

“He has the speed, the desire to finish situations off really good,” Klopp said. “I think his goal-scoring record is pretty impressive if I’m right.

“Unfortunately, he had a big injury last year and that is then never helpful. But he is back, thank God, and fits really well in this team. I’m really happy for him.”

Liverpool next play away to Merseyside rivals Everton on Wednesday.

Reuters

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