The human brain is a highly advanced information processor composed of more than 86 billion neurons. Humans are adept at recognizing patterns from complex networks, such as languages, without any formal instruction. Previously, cognitive scientists tried to explain this ability by depicting the brain as a highly optimized computer, but there is now discussion among neuroscientists that this model might not accurately reflect how the brain works.

Cellphones carry all kinds of germs, a new study finds, and researchers say phones should be cleaned regularly to cut the risk for coronavirus transmission.

The advice follows a review of 56 studies that looked at the risk of cellphones being contaminated with bacteria, fungi or viruses. The investigations were conducted across 24 countries between 2006 and 2019, prior to the advent of Covid-19.

The review shows “that mobile phones not only carry bacteria but also viruses, fungi, and protozoa in the thousands”, said study author Lotti Tajouri, an associate professor of genomics and molecular biology at Bond University in Queensland, Australia.

On average, the review found that 68% of the mobile phones had been contaminated with a wide range of microorganisms. And some of those contaminants showed resistance to standard antibiotics.

Particularly receptive hosts

The investigators did not conduct any new tests to search for the presence of the Covid-19 virus on phones. However, Tajouri said his team “hypothesise strongly that mobile phones are responsible for the rapid propagation of COVID-19”.

Why? First of all, “the virus responsible for Covid-19 can live on glass, plastic, stainless steel for days,” Tajouri noted. And cellphones, he added, are “particularly receptive hosts for germs simply because we first never wash them, and we take them everywhere and all the time with us.”

That includes where people eat, where they sleep, and where they go to the bathroom, he observed, as well as onboard the planes and trains people use to travel the globe.

And while acknowledging that all everyday objects are contaminated in some way, Tajouri warned that “mobile phones are like international ambulatory five-star luxury hotels” for germs. In fact, he said, “no other type of everyday object can compete”.

That point was seconded by Dr Stephen Berger, co-founder of Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network (GIDEON) in Tel Aviv, Israel.

“Cellular phones are ideal vehicles for the virus of Covid-19,” he agreed. “They are repeatedly exposed to material exhaled from our mouth and nose, and spend literally hours in our rather filthy hands. Viruses of this type are known to survive on plastics and stainless steel for two to three hours; on aluminium for two to eight hours; on cardboard and paper for up to 24 hours; and on ceramic or glass for up to five days.”

Phones like our ‘third hand’

But Tajouri and Berger part ways when it comes to what we should do about it.

Tajouri’s advice: “Before you wash your hand, wash your phone,” he recommended.

“To be safe, every single one of us needs to first acknowledge that mobile phone is a source of microbial contamination,” he said, and to effectively treat phones like “our third hand”.

“You could do that by using a soft microfibre cloth with 70% ethanol or use of a non-abrasive disinfectant wipe to wipe off your phone,” said Tajouri, though he cautions users to consult phone manufacturers to identify cleaning products that are safe for electronic devices.

By contrast, Berger – who was not involved in the review – suggests keeping your eyes on the real culprit: your hands.

As a practical matter, he said, cellphones are shared about as often as a drinking straw. “And if the phone has been exposed only to your own hands and your own mouth, the potential for viral transmission vanishes,” Berger noted.

No need for compulsive cleaning

So, while he “would certainly avoid using the cellphone of a casual acquaintance, even while wearing a mask”, Berger said repetitive phone cleaning is unwarranted.

“Bottom line, there is no need to compulsively clean cellphones, or [for that matter] doorknobs, home railings, paper money, eyeglasses, hats, shoes, credit cards, or wristwatches,” Berger said. “Whenever these and other objects in our daily life are examined in the laboratory, a veritable ‘zoo’ of bacteria, parasites, fungi and viruses is discovered. But the common denominator for all of these is the human hand that touches them, and then goes to our mouth or nose.”

So it’s your hands, said Berger, rather than the phone itself, that “should certainly be thoroughly cleaned. As often as possible.”

The review was published online recently in the journal Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease.

READ | Do your keys, phone, money need disinfecting when you return home?

READ | Scientists tested WHO-recommended disinfectants against the coronavirus – and they are effective

READ | Can you catch the new coronavirus from your clothes?

^{Image credit: Rob Hampson, Unsplash}

As evidence continues to grow that people who smoke are at greater risk of dying from Covid-19, health professionals are turning to a familiar message with new urgency: There may be no better time to quit than today.

While researchers gather more data as the virus spreads, both the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified smoking as a risk factor for severe coronavirus-related disease and death.

Studies from Wuhan, China, where the coronavirus emerged in December, showed smokers were 1.4 times more likely to display severe Covid-19 symptoms and 2.4 times more likely to be sent to an intensive care unit, require mechanical ventilation or die, compared to non-smokers.

“This is such a new world, of course, but there’s no question that smoking makes your situation worse if you catch the virus,” said Dr Irving Kron, senior associate vice president for health sciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson. “If you get it, there is some evidence that smoking will change the propensity of your lungs to get infected. And as you know, if you get your lungs infected with this disease, that’s a bad plan.”

Preexisting heart disease

That’s when people can die, he said. Yet the biological changes brought about by smoking can cause more lung infections in everyday life, pandemic or no.

Studies are less conclusive about the potential dangers of Covid-19 for people who vape, Kron said. But vaping has been linked to asthma, chronic lung disease and cardiovascular disease.

That damage also opens the door for the coronavirus to become more dangerous.

“We know that a lot of people with coronavirus die of preexisting heart disease. So if you smoked, we know that affects your coronary arteries,” Kron said. “For sure, smoking – in terms of its long-term effects – increases your risk of mortality from coronavirus.”

People who share smoking devices, such as vape pens or hookah pipes, are especially at risk of spreading the virus, Rezk-Hanna said.

“Because smokers tend to share hookahs using the same mouthpiece, hookah smoking could increase the transmission of Covid-19 further,” she said. “We also know that because of the lack of regulation, hookah home delivery companies and hookah lounges may not properly clean their pipes, and because the coronavirus can survive on surfaces such as plastic or metal for up to several days, the risk of transmission is high.”

Immediate short-term health benefits

Similarly, the WHO suggested smokers who quit now would reduce their risk of infection simply because they will reduce the number of times they touch their mouths with their fingers.

While health officials are not able to predict a timeline in which the spread of the coronavirus will be under control, they point to data showing there are immediate short-term health benefits after a person gives up smoking.

“Smokers who quit begin to see better heart and lung health almost immediately,” Rezk-Hanna said. “Within minutes, the heart rate drops to normal levels. Within hours, carbon monoxide and other tobacco-related toxicant levels decline, and as a result, blood oxygen levels go up and coughing and wheezing start to improve.”

A study published in January in the journal Nature found that quitting smoking now may not only prevent future lung damage, it could cause healthy cells to begin repairing previous damage.

“There are just so many bad things about smoking, including the fact that it’s a nasty habit,” Kron said. “If you had your doubts before, now’s a great time to quit.”

^{AHA News for HealthDay}

READ | Smokers, vapers in special danger from coronavirus

READ | Why the cigarette ban during lockdown? Five medical experts weigh in

READ | Coronavirus infection likely worse for vapers and smokers

^{Image credit: Franck V. on Unsplash}

A few dozen people wearing homemade and medical masks sit waiting for taxis as drivers spray hand sanitiser on commuters and tell them where inside of the ubiquitous South African Toyota Quantum minibus taxis they may sit to keep the appropriate distance. 

The scene on this Friday morning is eerily quiet for Bosman taxi rank, usually one of Pretoria’s busiest and loudest spots. “The mood is very somber”, says Macdonald Makata, public relations officer of the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) in Tshwane.

Only about a fifth of the rank is operating, with vehicles filled to a maximum of 70%, sanitised regularly, and deep cleaned twice a week. All commuters are meant to wear masks, although only about half do, says Charles, who has been a taxi driver for about five years.

“It’s very difficult that(sic) but we have to follow,” he says of the regulations. Makata agrees that while the health measures are important, they are not easy to implement, since some commuters do not take them seriously and it is having a great financial impact on the industry. “In a way it is helping to flatten the curve,” he says, “but pocket-wise it is not helpful at all.”

Similar health and safety regulations are in place across the board in the different modes of private and public transport that is allowed during South Africa’s level four lockdown, with some buses and the Gautrain slowly resuming operations. 

Transport ministry spokesperson Ayanda Allie Paine says that they are testing the state of readiness and the viability of instituting the health measures at scale before reopening the Metrorail system during level three or two.

While the ministry is exploring a variety of future scenarios, Paine says the economy and budgets will have to be considered, “so one is fearful of saying that this is what we’ll do and for how long and whether or not it will be sustainable”.

The risk 

Despite the practical implementation being challenging, the need for health measures in public transport is undeniable. Professor Taryn Young is the head of the Department of Global Health and the director of the Centre for Evidence-based Health Care at Stellenbosch University, where she and a team recently conducted a rapid review of research linking public transport and respiratory viral infections like influenza. 

She says in simple terms “the risk of transmission within public transport comes from the fact that it is large numbers of people that will be very close to each other”. The studies confirmed that using public transport significantly increased your chances of influenza.

This risk is based on factors such as the proximity of commuters, the time spent traveling, and the inadequate ventilation in these spaces. Young notes that this may especially relate to people who are infected but not yet tested or showing symptoms.

She says another risk factor is that public transport, particularly over longer distances, can bring viral infections into new areas. 

The common interventions to mitigate this risk fall into four broad categories, namely environmental controls, respiratory etiquette, hand hygiene, and mask usage.

Young reminds that “it’s about a combination of strategies, it’s not just about doing one of these”. Encouragingly, these areas are already been addressed or planned for in South Africa. 

Environmental controls

Since SARS-CoV-2 spreads through airborne droplets that may be inhaled or touched, surface sanitisation is a key environmental aspect to control in public transport.

Hand sanitisers and deep cleaning seem to already be widely in place and Gauteng MEC for Public Transport, Jacob Mamabolo, is launching a provincial taxi disinfection programme aimed at increasing compliance with regulations. 

Sanitisation or health screening booths, like the ones recently installed by the Gautrain, are another option that is being considered by the ministry for larger-scale rollout. Paine says these may be used more widely because “they not only check your temperature, but they also spray with sanitisers that stay on your clothes and body for an hour while you’re commuting”.

Paine says they are also considering cashless systems in taxis as a way of increasing hygiene. “We are not there yet, but these discussions have already begun.” 

Responding to Spotlight about larger changes in the system, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says that “yes, structural innovation must be the new thing”.

He emphasises that the chosen changes must be value for money and says that he is also looking to changes made in other countries such as Turkey.

Mbalula uses the example of the sanitisation booths as something that can be implemented in larger transport spaces such as the rail network. “It is innovative, it is highly convenient, it is proper. That is what we want to see,” Mbalula says.

Fresh air

The other important and perhaps underrated environmental control mechanism is adequate ventilation. Young says the studies they reviewed showed that influenza risk dropped when air was filtered or improving ventilation in trains. 

Freelance biomedical engineer Munyaradzi Matose has researched how airborne tuberculosis is affected by ventilation in taxis in South Africa.

He found that opening the two front windows in an average minibus met the World Health Organization’s minimum recommendations for ventilation rates in general wards and outpatient departments.

He says this “reduces the risk by removing all the particulates in the air – almost 95% of that – within an hour”. This is a cost-effective and easy way to drastically reduce the risk of infection from airborne disease. 

In his research Matose monitored taxis driving to higher tuberculosis risk areas such as Gugulethu and Khayelitsha, and while drivers may open windows to call out to potential passengers, “consistent open windows throughout the journey didn’t happen much”.

He acknowledges that while it may decrease the health risk, wide-open windows are often impractical because of the noise levels, possible safety risk and discomfort at higher speeds. 

Matose advises that air conditioners may bring in a little fresh air, but this may not be enough, and may not be a feasible and affordable solution for drivers.

When told of Matose’s research as a possible solution, Makata at the Pretoria taxi rank laughs and says “in summer, yes you can afford to open windows, but in winter you can’t, how dare you”.

An additional precaution to clean the air regardless of the windows would be an adaptation of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation lamps and similar devices. These can be used directly on surfaces, as long as there is no human contact, but Matose says hospitals use an air filtering version in fan cabinets.

“In conjunction with ventilation it would be the ideal solution,” he says, and this would be a risk reduction measure when windows cannot be opened. The lamps can run continuously for about two years, but safety concerns would have to be evaluated.  

“There is potential for it to work, it’s just the willingness of either the taxi associations or the car manufacturers themselves to jump on board for disinfecting the air for their passengers.”

Matose has tried to convince manufacturers to invest in this before to no avail but says that in the time of COVID-19, the willingness may be higher. He says that longer term this may even allow for slightly fuller public transport, since “it opens up a whole new solution for people to feel safe in these packed environments”. 

Normalising etiquette

The other three categories of interventions that Young mentions are more up to the commuters than the transport system. Respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene practices, such as coughing into your elbow and avoiding touching surfaces and your face, can be encouraged but not entirely imposed.

Social distancing is being pushed by indicators on the floors of train stations and public spaces, but not always adhered to. Using fabric masks, while mandated by lockdown restrictions, can only be enforced to an extent, and even though homemade masks are often for sale at places such as Bosman rank, only a portion of commuters comply. 

Young says this comes down to engagement with all levels of the public transport community, including commuters. “For them to know what the risks are, for them to know how one can reduce this, and for them to come up with strategies for how this can be implemented.”

Makata echoes this when he speaks of the initial adjustment to the new regulations. “We felt very vulnerable, and it was all because there was very little information,” he says.

The drivers and owners were unsure about how the virus spreads and could not always explain the importance of the health measures to their clients. When discussing the research, such as Matose’s ventilation insights with Makata, he says these are the kinds of things they could implement if they understood the importance. “We lack that information, we are clueless.”

Continued or strengthened Covid-19 education specifically in the transport sector could address this. Makata suggests that having regular presence of health officials at ranks could help. 

National spokesperson of SANTACO, Thabisho Molelekwa, confirms that they are considering “setting up mobile clinics in bigger taxi ranks” along with other innovations such as “having automated sanitising devices inside taxis, digital messaging facilities with integrated sanitising systems”.

Structural changes 

While these health interventions are critical in reducing infection rates, the root of the risk is still linked. Young says it is linked to a system that puts many different people in close proximity over longer periods of time and distances. That cannot be reversed, but perhaps there are structural interventions that could help.

The most obvious approach so far has been to bring down the carrying capacity of transport, with taxis at 70% and the Gautrain at 50%, but this isn’t financially sustainable or likely able to provide the capacity needed once more people can return to work. 

Young says that “it starts with minimising the use of public transport” but since this isn’t easily feasible in the South African context, a particular focus for this should be on those with symptoms of a sickness. 

Competence Area Manager of Transport Systems and Operations at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr Mathetha Mokonyama, reminds that “although we refer to public transport as mass transport service, it is actually individuals who are travelling and not groups”.

Therefore, understanding the particular patterns and circumstances of commuters may make the system safer and more resilient, perhaps by making the system more efficient and catered to particular needs.  

Mokonyama says the mobility-as-a-service concept may be useful here. This combines the ideas of smart mobility and integrated transport to allow commuters to use Apps to get to their destinations in streamlined ways, often paid digitally. He says it “seeks to seamlessly match individual travel needs to services, and to also offer services in ways that respond to travel needs”.

This heightened level of efficiency and personalisation might have health benefits, because it may reduce travel time and the variability in the amount of people a commuter comes into contact with. 

Paine also says that system changes where variability – and therefore potentially the infection risk – is reduced are possible and feasible. She says that integrated public transport is of high importance to the ministry and implementation has started, and may even be expedited by the pandemic. “So, we are already starting to see the different modes of transport speaking to each other.”

Mokonyama does however concede that “given the volumes and complexity of travel patterns we have to invest in computational capabilities,” to implement mobility-as-a-service and that as a country “we have some way to go with information security capabilities and assurances that individual information will not be used for malicious purposes”. 

He says that other practical interventions could work to shift transport habits, such as price incentives for off-peak travel. “Working together with employers and schools to stagger working hours and school hours in order to reduce peak travel, will also reduce exposure risks.” 

“All these (changes, come at a cost, meaning the way transport is financed needs to be reconsidered,” Mokonyama says.

“This is very difficult,” says Professor Stephan Krygsman from the Department of Logistics at Stellenbosch University about the feasibility of these ideas. “Remember that transport, and public transport, is the lifeblood of cities and that it cannot be stopped or reinvented easily, because work commutes are often at set times and need for transportation at abnormal times, such as late-night hospital trips, is unpredictable,” he says.

While he recognises the greater problems in the system, Krygsman says for now the best may be to “keep the system running – just implement these safety measures”.

However, Krygsman says, the problems in the transport sector that ultimately lead to higher disease risk have a larger cause and therefore need more macro solutions.

“The irony is that the answer does not lie in transport, it lies in how we design our cities.” Krygsman explains that legacy spatial planning has created divides in cities, which makes traveling to and from outlying, often poorer neighborhoods, more expensive for those who live there. This affects the system, because “to lower the cost of travel, the transport is of very poor quality”. 

Taking a long term view, he says better designed lower-income neighbourhoods could create less reliance on public transport, possibly enhance system quality, and therefore make the country “more resilient to these types of shocks”.

Commuting in a Covid-19 world 

Researchers and officials can test and implement strategies that not only bring down health risks but might improve the system overall, including making it less crowded, more streamlined and possibly even addressing some of the financial challenges. 

But the public transport system in South Africa is a very large, multi-faceted beast. Adapting to the longer-term risk of COVID-19 will require complex solutions, political will, and careful negotiations. 

In the meantime, for the drivers spraying hand sanitiser at Bosman, and ranks like it around the country, changes are possible, but difficult. 

Charles says that even though some commuters have trouble complying “we as people, if we can follow the rules, we can win this”.

^{This article was produced by Spotlight – health journalism in the public interest. Sign upfor our newsletter.}

^{Image credit: Elna Schütz, Spotlight}

Elna Schütz

People who feel so ill they needed treatment in intensive care can face a long recovery that may take months.

On 7 May, there were more than 3.8 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and more than 267 000 deaths around the world, the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre indicates. In South Africa, we’ve been seeing a daily increase: the latest confirmed cases are 8 238, with 161 confirmed deaths.

With the Covid-19 pandemic placing unprecedented demands on hospitals around the world, health authorities worry about an insufficient supply of ventilators, beds and staff to help those infected.

Countries experiencing a shortage of these include South Sudan, Somalia and Venezuela. And to manage this crisis and establish hospital readiness in South Africa, Trixta, a collaborative low-code platform for business minds and software developers, have launched ReportCovidCase.com – a web app that was built in just 72 hours, and gives hospitals an indicator of how many cases they will have in the near future.

This initiative came after the company was approached by a private GP helping out at a well-known Cape Town hospital, expressing concerns about the lack of information about Covid-19 cases reaching hospitals. This prevents healthcare workers from knowing how many ventilators, beds and staff are required.

How the app works

The app enables local referring general practitioners (GPs) to log cases. This information then becomes available and accessible to hospitals in real-time, and helps them to plan their capacity and equipment needs. Best of all, it comes at no cost, and no training and set-up is required. Patient information can be anonymised, which means the process is rapid.

“A well-prepared hospital saves lives. Previously, GPs were relaying alerts to hospitals over WhatsApp and phone calls. However, with the anticipated upsurge that is likely to emerge particularly once the national lockdown is lifted, this will not be feasible,” said Trixta COO and Co-founder, Roger Norton, adding that if hospitals have the opportunity to start measuring what referring GPs are seeing, it will allow them to better prepare for the imminent rise in cases.

The platform is currently being trialled by 70 doctors in the greater Cape Town City Bowl area and one hospital, and has been built to allow multiple hospitals to sign up within one day. The intention is for it to be scaled further across South Africa and beyond, although funding is required to enable this.

“Up until now, this has been a completely pro bono project, but there is an increasingly urgent need to provide this kind of support to more hospitals throughout the country so that they can be properly prepared to face the impending spike in Covid-19 cases,” explained Norton.

Trixta will also be improving the platform over time to ensure that dashboards and reporting are improved, and it will also connect data from the web app to data from other sources, such as Pathcare and government databases, so as to track relationships between patients, and ultimately better monitor hotspot outbreaks.

READ | Why it’s even more important to distance while running – the danger is your ‘breath cloud’

READ | Blood pressure medications do not increase Covid-19 risk

READ | Covid-19: Interview with a Cape Town doctor on the frontlines

^{Image: Hush Naidoo/Unsplash}

Compiled by Zakiyah Ebrahim

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SA

Cases update: 

The latest number of confirmed cases is 8 232.

The Western Cape has by far the most cases in the country, as it edges closer to 4 000 – with 3 994 total cases.

According to the latest update, 161 deaths have been recorded in the country.

So far, 292 153 tests have been conducted – more than 12 700 new tests.

READ MORE | All the confirmed cases of coronavirus in SA

Latest news:

Government has formally indicated that it will oppose a far-reaching court challenge to the lockdown cigarette sales ban – and has also made it clear that it will not hand over minutes of the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) discussions regarding the ban because they are “classified”.

The Presidency has confirmed to News24 that cigarette companies are now allowed to manufacture and export tobacco products to other countries – but appear to be adamant that the ban on local sales must remain in place.

“Manufacture and export of cigarettes is already allowed in the regulations and not tailored for any company,” Presidency spokesperson Khusela Diko told News24.

“Government’s overriding objective is to save lives by enhancing adherence to the lockdown regulations. We are not making any morality judgements on cigarettes, hence manufacture and export is allowed as part of resumption of economic activity”.

READ MORE | Government refuses to show minutes of cigarette ban U-turn, says it’s ‘classified’

The Department of Basic Education has warned all schools against reopening prematurely.

The department said it was aware of some independent, private and public schools that were already preparing to reopen much earlier than required.

Spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said some schools had even received pupils ahead of the schedule announced by Minister Angie Motshekga.

“In some schools, teachers have already been reporting for duty and parents’ meetings have been held where plans were announced to have learners back in school in May. The premature reopening of schools is not permitted, as the department is still finalising coronavirus school compliance protocols.

“The uniform standards will be applicable in schools as part of the measures put in place to protect pupils and teachers, reduce infection and save the academic year.

“Regulations were published on 29 April, in terms of the Disaster Management Act which listed education services under Level 4, as permitted on a date and schedule yet to be announced to direct when schools may reopen during Level 4,” said Mhlanga.

READ MORE | Opening of schools too soon is not permitted, warns education dept

As of Thursday night South Africans can move house again, as long as the country does not go back up to Alert Level 5.

Under regulations published by cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, people and their household effects may move around South Africa on a once-off basis – even across provincial lines.

But there are terms and conditions – including that any move must happen by 7 June.

The rules are intended to allow people to move when they have entered a new lease agreement, either before or during lockdown, or where they have bought new homes and the transfer of the property has already gone through.

READ MORE | You can now move house under Level 4 – but only until 7 June

Uber Eats now delivers books from Exclusive Books. The food delivery service made the announcement on Thursday. The chain’s full range of books will be available, and delivery is free for the month of May.

“We’ve been working hard to expand our options on Uber Eats,” says the platform’s South African general manager, Ailyssa Pretorius.

“Great books are just as essential as great meals, something people will want at their fingertips in future.”

Apart from food deliveries during the lockdown, Uber Eats also delivers other essentials such as supplies from pharmacies, snack and nappies.

Book and stationery stores opened their doors on Friday, 1 May, as the country entered into Level 4 of the national lockdown.

READ MORE | You can now order from Exclusive Books on Uber Eats

In mid-March, Nelisa Jonas attended the funeral of a retired nurse in KwaDwesi township in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape. Soon after, a number of Covid-19 infections in Nelson Mandela Bay were traced back to this funeral. Since Jonas went to the funeral, she had to get tested.

Jonas told a local radio station that she lived in fear after her name was linked to the funeral on social media. She said on social media people were cautioned to stay away from her because she either tested positive or she was refusing to be tested.

Jonas said when she saw messages from the Department of Health encouraging those who had been at the funeral to get tested, she got tested at Motherwell Health Care Centre. Before she received her results, she says her name was already circulating on social media.

“The Department informed me that I tested negative and no one is taking responsibility on how my name landed up on social media. The community had not taken the news well and people are not comfortable with having me around because they believe I will pass on the virus to them,” Jonas said.

READ MORE | Covid-19: The battle against stigma in the Eastern Cape

On 31 March 2020 the Free State province reported its first Covid-19 death, and South Africa’s third.

The man who died was 85-year-old John Hlangeni. Whether he was the first or the third, to his family Hlangeni was more than just another Covid-19 statistic. When Spotlight recently spoke to his family members, their grief was still fresh. Hlangeni’s son, Gopolang Hlangeni, says his father was an avid reader who enjoyed telling stories. “He loved spending time with his great-grandchildren and watching wrestling with them on TV.

He was a soft man who enjoyed spending his time doing the Lord’s work. My father was a pastor at the Global Reconciliation Church and a respected man in his community. ”The family believes Hlangeni would still be alive if he had initially been tested for the virus and not just screened. Screening refers to checking for Covid-19 symptoms such as fever and dry cough, while testing refers to taking swabs from inside the mouth or nose and testing the samples in a laboratory. 

Free State health authorities traced Hlangeni after he attended a church service that resulted in the province’s biggest cluster outbreak. The three-day church gathering was held from 9 to 11 March. A total of 895 people attended and over 70 Covid-19 cases were identified from the event. 

READ MORE | Covid-19: How deaths are treated in the Free State

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE REST OF THE WORLD 

Cases update:

For the latest global data, follow this interactive map from Johns Hopkins University & Medicine.

Late on Thursday night, positive cases worldwide were more than 3.81 million, while deaths were more than 267 000.

The United States had the most cases in the world – close to 1.25 million, as well as the most deaths – more than 75 000.

READ MORE | All the confirmed cases worldwide

Latest news:

The United Nations on Thursday issued a new appeal for $4.7 billion (R87 billion) in funding to “protect millions of lives and stem the spread of coronavirus in fragile countries.”

“I would like to see some of the wealthiest people in the world who are making money right now step up and be generous,” David Beasley, director of the UN’s World Food Programme, told a videoconference.

Beasley urged the world’s wealthiest people and companies to “step up in a major, major way,” saying that “if they do, we’ll all benefit – if they don’t, everyone has to pay a price.”

The money is on top of the $2 billion the UN already called for when it launched its global humanitarian response plan on 25 March. It has received about half of that money so far.

“The most devastating and destabilising effects” of the novel coronavirus pandemic “will be felt in the world’s poorest countries,” the UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Mark Lowcock, said in a statement.

“Unless we take action now, we should be prepared for a significant rise in conflict, hunger and poverty. The specter of multiple famines looms,” he warned.

READ MORE | UN asks super-wealthy to ‘step up’ and donate for coronavirus relief

President Donald Trump is worried wearing a face mask in public could ruin his chances of being reelected, according to a new report from the Associated Press (AP).

The president has never been seen wearing a mask in public, and drew criticism on Tuesday for failing to wear a face mask during a tour of a Honeywell plant in Arizona – going against both CDC guidance and a rule requiring workers at the factory to wear them.

Trump reportedly believes that wearing a face mask would “send the wrong message” that he is more focused on the current health threat than reopening the economy, one administration source and two campaign officials told the AP.

Aides believe that getting the US economy up and running again is key to winning in November.

One of the officials added that Trump is afraid he might look ridiculous wearing a face mask, and that the image could be used against him in attack ads.

This isn’t the first time that Trump has publicly gone against coronavirus safety guidelines.

READ MORE | Donald Trump won’t wear a mask in public because he’s afraid he might look ridiculous

LATEST RESEARCH

While we know that Covid-19 can cause severe respiratory symptoms and patients can die because of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), scientists are investigating what else can cause a fatal outcome in Covid-19 patients.

There  have been reports on immune systems that go into overdrive, causing serious complications. Now, however, it appears that blood clots in the lungs can also cause serious outcomes.

A study, led by clinician-scientists at RCSI University of Health Scientists, found that Irish Covid 19 patients experienced more severe complications and even death, because of blood clotting in the lungs.

This study was published in the British Journal of Haematology and was covered in a press release.

READ MORE | How blood clots can cause severe Covid-19 complications

Many people with high blood pressure, medically known as hypertension, have been wondering whether their blood pressure medications could increase their risk of developing Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. However, a new study, led by researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine, found that common high blood pressure drugs did not increase the risk of contracting Covid-19, or of developing severe disease.

This came after the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology and the Heart Failure Society of America issued a joint statement on 17 March, wherein they called for urgent research into whether high blood pressure medications worsen Covid-19 patient outcomes, a news release by EurekAlert reports.

The study was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The topic became popular recently when some experts questioned the relationship between common blood pressure medications and their ability to increase the risk of Covid-19. Among them was a letter published in the Lancet. The author recommended stopping ACE Inhibitors and ARBs – which relaxes the veins and arteries to lower blood pressure – in Covid-19 patients, based on seemingly legitimate theoretical concerns. For people with hypertension, this led to a wave of panic, causing them to stop taking their medication.

READ MORE | Blood pressure medications do not increase Covid-19 risk

Many countries have implemented lockdown in an effort to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. Part of this strategy has been travel restrictions and bans, and, according to a new study by computer modelling experts at Stanford University, millions more people across the European Union could have contracted the disease had these international travel bans not been enforced.

The report, published in Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, utilised a newly developed mathematical epidemiology simulation which calculated the consequences of limiting air travel across the 27 EU states on the spread of Covid-19.

The simulation was able to estimate figures for the spread of Covid-19 for each country, if travel bans were removed.  

Since the team involved in the study can virtually lift travel restrictions between individual communities, states, or countries, and therefore analyse the potential gradual changes in spreading patterns and outbreak dynamics, their new model could play a significant role in political decision-making, one of the researchers said.

“Our results demonstrate that mathematical modelling can provide guidelines for political decision making with the ultimate goal to gradually return to normal while keeping the rate of new Covid-19 infections steady and manageable.” 

READ MORE | Covid-19 travel restrictions have saved millions of people from being infected, mathematical modelling shows

Studies are beginning to show that, in rare cases, people with severe Covid-19 may develop the serious nervous system disorder known as Guillain-Barre syndrome.

“Guillain-Barre syndrome is a well-known condition in which one’s immune system targets peripheral nerves as foreign and attacks them, resulting in the cardinal features of the disease,” explained Dr Anthony Geraci, who directs neuromuscular medicine at Northwell Health in Great Neck, New York.

The symptoms of the disorder “include weakness, areflexia [absence of reflexes], paraesthesia [tingling], and in some cases facial weakness and ataxia [poor balance],” Geraci said.

It’s not uncommon for severe cases of infectious disease to trigger Guillain-Barre, experts noted. According to the Italian authors of a new study, the syndrome has also been seen in patients battling Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus and, most notably, infection with mosquito-borne Zika.

READ MORE | Some Covid-19 patients stricken by Guillain-Barre syndrome

HEALTH TIPS (as recommended by the NICD and WHO)

• Maintain physical distancing – stay at least one metre away from somebody who is coughing or sneezing

• Practise frequent hand-washing, especially after direct contact with ill people or their environment

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, as your hands touch many surfaces and could potentially transfer the virus

• Practise respiratory hygiene – cover your mouth with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Remember to dispose the tissue immediately after use.

READ MORE: Coronavirus 101 

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We can’t help liking llamas with their fluffy faces and spindly legs.

But it seems that the llama has now become significant for a particular reason – its blood contains an antibody that could potentially neutralise SARS-CoV-2.

A new study published in the journal Cell on Tuesday 5 May 2020 stated that these antibodies can help neutralise the novel coronavirus, known for causing Covid-19. This comes from research of four years ago. The international research team found that the antibodies from a then nine-month-old llama named Winter could neutralise both SARS-CoV-1 and Mers-Cov over a period of six weeks.

Both these coronaviruses were known for causing outbreaks in 2003 and 2012. Now, SARS-CoV-2 is sweeping across the globe with dire consequences.

On track to a solution?

In the new research, Winter’s (now four years old) antibodies also had the same neutralising effect on SARS-CoV-2.

But why a llama? According to the experts, the small size of their antibodies makes them more likely to connect successfully to different parts of the virus.

“The binding of this antibody to spike is able to prevent attachment and entry, which effectively neutralises the virus,” Daniel Wrapp, Dartmouth PhD candidate and co-author, explained in a report.

Scientists hope that a treatment plan could emerge from this new research.

“Vaccines have to be given a month or two before infection to provide protection,” McLellan said in the statement. “With antibody therapies, you’re directly giving somebody the protective antibodies and so, immediately after treatment, they should be protected.”

Antibody therapy can also be administered to those who are already infected with Covid-19, as it might lessen the symptoms.

Is this the first time that the llama is considered for antibodies?

According to an article in the New York Times, llama antibodies were also used in HIV and influenza research. Research published in PLOS Pathogens in 2014 stated that a combination of llama antibodies can help destroy a large selection of HIV viruses. These antibodies were described as “broadly neutralising” antibodies, very similar to human antibodies.

How long before we see a treatment?

As with any medical development, more research and tests would be needed before we see this as a treatment used in a clinical setting.

“There is still a lot of work to do to try to bring this into the clinic,” Xavier Saelens, a molecular virologist at Ghent University in Belgium and co-author said in a report. “If it works, llama Winter deserves a statue.”

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Compiled by Marelize Wilke

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