Researchers at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture’s Amphibian Disease Laboratory are working to understand — and hopefully get ahead of — highly contagious pathogens affecting amphibians in Europe and Asia. One of the pathogens of interest is Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, or Bsal.

The number of people going to A&E in England dropped substantially last month, official figures show.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SA

Cases update: 

The latest number of confirmed cases is 1 845.

According to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, 18 deaths have now been recorded in the country.

So far, 63 776 tests have been conducted.

READ MORE |All the confirmed cases of coronavirus in SA

Latest news:

President Cyril Ramaphosa has taken a firm stance against Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, following allegations that Ndabeni-Abrahams breached lockdown regulations by visiting a friend.

On Wednesday, Ramaphosa put Ndabeni-Abrahams on special leave and directed her to apologise publicly after a picture of her having a meal at the home of former deputy minister of higher education Mduduzi Manana went viral on social media.

The post, which appears to be a screengrab of Manana’s Instagram page, shows the two politicians and several others seated at a table.

Ramaphosa summoned Ndabeni-Abrahams to a meeting on Tuesday where he expressed his disapproval and told her that she undermined lockdown regulations which required all citizens to stay at home to curb the spread of Covid-19.

READ MORE | Ramaphosa puts Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams on special leave, orders her to publicly apologise

In a video on Wednesday, Ndabeni-Abrahams apologised to Ramaphosa and all South Africans.

“Fellow South Africans, I would like to convey an apology to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the national command centre [and] the South African society at large for breaching lockdown rules put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19,” Ndabeni-Abrahams said in the video.

“I met with the president yesterday (Tuesday) after a photo was circulated on social media, showing myself at the home of Mr Mduduzi Manana during the lockdown and social distancing period,” Ndabeni-Abrahams said.

She added that she regretted her actions. “I regret the incident and I am deeply sorry for my actions. I hope the president and you, South Africans, will find it in your hearts to forgive me.”

READ MORE | ‘I hope you will find it in your hearts to forgive me’ – Ndabeni-Abrahams apologises

Due to long queues during the lockdown, the SA Social Security Agency’s (Sassa) grant payout days will be changed to protect the elderly.

As from May, disability grants as well as those for the elderly will be paid on the fourth, while others will be paid on the sixth. 

In a statement, Sassa said grant payments for April was brought forward to 30 March to allow people to buy supplies during the lockdown without them being caught up in long queues or exposing themselves to Covid-19. 

However, chaos ensued, including a situation in Dobsonville, Soweto, where a group of young people pushed the elderly out of the way to get to the pay points first. 

READ MORE | Sassa changes payout days after lockdown pay crush

As the number of coronavirus cases in South Africa continues to grow, National Treasury has moved to centralise the sourcing of personal protective equipment from suppliers. 

This comes as countries around the globe scramble to secure scarce medical equipment to fight the virus, which has already killed over 83 000 people worldwide.

Citing a shortage of protective gear, Treasury on Wednesday issued a call for “compliant, particularly local” suppliers of PPE items such as surgical gloves, masks, sanitisers, ventilators and more to submit offers to a central project management office for assessment. 

Other items on the list included overshoes, biohazard bags, cleaning alcohol, disinfectants, protective eyewear and disposable aprons. 

READ MORE | Treasury centralises sourcing of protective gear

Separated parents are now allowed to move their children between houses during the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown, provided they meet certain legal requirements.

While government had previously been unclear about the issue, new regulations regarding the matter were gazetted on Tuesday.

Separated or divorced parents who want to move their children between them during the lockdown, will need a court order or an agreement that is registered with the family advocate, such as a parental responsibilities and rights agreement or a parenting plan.

The responsible parent transporting their child or children must have these documents, or a certified copy, in their possession when travelling.

READ MORE | Lockdown: Separated parents allowed to move kids between houses – new regulations

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.

Positive cases worldwide are now close to 1.5 million, while deaths are more than 88 500.

The United States has more than 430 000 cases, and Spain has the second most, with close to 150 000.

Italy has the most deaths with nearly 17 700.

READ MORE | All the confirmed cases worldwide

Latest news:

The UK government is under growing pressure to explain who is now in charge of the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic as Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains badly ill in intensive care.

The Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is officially deputising for Johnson. However, the UK’s unwritten constitution and a shaky performance from Raab himself over recent days has thrown the question of who is really in charge of the British government into doubt.

Raab continues to chair meetings in the prime minister’s absence and deputising for him “where necessary,” Downing Street said, but it is not clear he has the authority to make key decisions in the coming weeks.

Questions to the prime minister’s official spokesman and Raab himself over recent days have failed to clarify exactly where power now lies.

READ MORE | The UK government is suffering a coronavirus ‘power vacuum’ after Boris Johnson was put into ICU

President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to cut US funding for the World Health Organisation (WHO) after accusing it of pro-China bias.

“We’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it and we’re going to see,” Trump said at the White House coronavirus task force briefing that day.

He made the announcement hours after attacking the organization in a tweet. “The W.H.O. really blew it. For some reason, funded largely by the United States, yet very China centric. We will be giving that a good look,” Trump wrote.

“Fortunately I rejected their advice on keeping our borders open to China early on,” he added. “Why did they give us such a faulty recommendation?”

READ MORE | Trump threatened to cut off funding to the WHO, saying ‘they seem to always err on the side of China’

Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, lifted its lockdown on Wednesday and couples living there rushed to take advantage.

A local marriage application system run by Chinese tech platform Alipay saw a 300% increase in traffic, according to an official post on China’s microblogging site Weibo, causing a temporary logjam.

Alipay also announced in its post that it offers a service to couples to search and see what baby names have already been used by other couples. Alipay is one of the most widely-used payment platforms in China, alongside WeChat.

According to Chinese tech publication Abacus, marriage applications from Wuhan were suspended through February and March while the city’s 11 million residents were subject to its 76-day lockdown.

READ MORE | Wuhan couples were so eager to marry after lockdown that they crashed the marriage application system

LATEST RESEARCH

Last week, Health24 reported on the BCG vaccine that is being trialled in Australia in the hopes of fighting the Covid-19 virus pandemic.

In a nutshell, a team of researchers in Australia will fast-track the BCG vaccine in humans to see how Covid-19 symptoms respond. The study will give a BCG vaccination to frontline Healthcare workers to see if it decreased the likelihood of Vovid-19 virus infection, and potentially if infected, then the severity of disease.

Now, a new study has surfaced, investigating the correlation between the mortality rate of Covid-19 related complications and the universal BCG vaccine policies between countries.

In simple terms – are those nations who make BCG vaccines mandatory at birth less susceptible to high Covid-19 related deaths?

READ MORE | Could the TB vaccine you received at birth help protect against the coronavirus? We asked an expert

Research has shown that older adults and those with underlying medical conditions are more likely to die from Covid-19 related complications than others.

But what explains the severe symptoms in a number of much younger, seemingly healthy people?

Research published in The Lancet earlier in March 2020 suggested that a subgroup of patients with severe Covid-19 symptoms might suffer these complications, not because of their age or underlying conditions, but a so-called “cytokine storm”.

Cytokines are made up of various proteins and are released by the immune cells as a defence response to an intruder, such as a virus. These cytokines have an effect on other cells in the body, which can manifest as inflammation – think of arthritis, as an example – when your immune system is triggered and releases inflammation, manifesting as pain.

READ MORE | Some coronavirus deaths caused by extreme reaction from immune system

Mirroring findings from a similar study in China, the first comprehensive tally of coronavirus infection in American children shows it’s much less likely to cause severe illness.

Children under the age of 18 are far less likely to even be diagnosed with Covid-19 than adults. Although people under the age of 18 make up 22% of the US population, they made up just 1.7% of cases recorded between 12 February and 2 April, the new study found.

Even if kids were made ill by the new coronavirus, that illness was typically mild, said a team led by Lucy McNamara, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Covid-19 Response Team.

Just under 6% of kids with Covid-19 ended up in the hospital, the study found, compared to 10% of adults aged 18 to 64.

READ MORE | US study finds Covid-19 seldom severe in kids

The first community-acquired case of Covid-19 in the United States posed many questions for doctors, but the answers they found led to key changes in federal guidelines for coronavirus testing, according to a case study.

The patient was an otherwise healthy woman in her 40s who was admitted to University of California (UC) Davis Health with a respiratory infection. Doctors suspected community-acquired pneumonia, and measures were put in place to prevent her from infecting others.

Within 24 hours, the woman’s respiratory condition deteriorated, and she was intubated and given antibiotics. Testing over several days failed to identify the source of infection.

Doctors suspected Covid-19, but the patient had not travelled to a high-risk area and had had no contact with anyone who had. As such, she did not meet US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for coronavirus testing, the authors explained.

READ MORE | How one patient’s battle with Covid-19 changed US testing protocols

HEALTH TIPS (as recommended by the NICD and WHO)

• Avoid contact with people who have respiratory infections 

• 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 

^{Image credit: Getty Images}

Move over, “Freshman 15”. There’s a new belt-busting threat fuelled by the coronavirus pandemic cramming Americans into their homes, dangerously close to their snacks, suds, sodas, sofas and streaming videos.

Beware gaining “the Covid-19.”

While this repurposing of the disease’s name obviously is light-hearted, the struggle is real. After all, the current situation is a recipe for weight gain.

It doesn’t have to be, though.

Bad and good news

In fact, just as simple things like washing hands, staying home and keeping six feet (1.8m) apart when in public can help slow the spread of the coronavirus, easy options exist for eating healthy and being active. In fact, social media feeds are filled with them.

“The bad news is that we have to contend with the virus,” said Linda Van Horn, chief of the nutrition division in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “The amazingly good news is that, unlike conditions during the Spanish flu or the bubonic plague, we have the entire internet at our disposal.”

Van Horn mentioned another, even better reminder: The pandemic eventually will end.

So, she asked, wouldn’t it be great to emerge at the same weight and fitness level as before … or better? And if you didn’t follow a healthy diet or have a consistent workout routine, wouldn’t developing one – or both – be a successful takeaway heading into the “new normal” we’ll all soon be facing?

“My goal for myself and all the people I love and care about is to come out of this thing happier, renewed, refreshed and knowing more than ever what matters most,” said Tina Johnson, a certified athletic trainer, fitness model and bodybuilding judge in Richmond, Virginia.

Invest in meal planning

Once the motivation arrives, then it’s time for some guidance. Johnson and Van Horn can help.

For eating healthy, Van Horn recommends starting by “taking stock of what’s in your refrigerator, freezer, cupboard and pantry”.

If you don’t see many fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and nuts, put them on the shopping list. If you see lots of chips, cookies and other junk food, think twice about putting them in your grocery cart.

“This is an opportunity to say, ‘If I don’t buy it, I don’t have it. And if I don’t have it, I don’t eat it,'” Van Horn said.

Since most people suddenly have extra time on their hands – she’s saved three hours per day by not commuting to work – Van Horn suggests investing a few minutes into meal planning.

“Once again, go back to your friendly internet and discover the countless recipes you can make with rice, beans, whole grains, fruits and vegetables,” she said. “Try some new cuisines. Have a Greek night or an Asian night.”

‘Just do something’

She also urges getting cooking help from children – of all ages.

“I teach nutrition and it’s surprising how few millennials and Gen Xers know how to cook,” Van Horn said. “This is an opportunity for parents not only to teach kids how to cook, but also to teach them how to be healthy, while working together as family. It’s a win-win-win.”

One last tip from Van Horn: Think twice about what you’re drinking.

“I’d sure rather eat my calories than drink them,” she said.

Water, black coffee or tea are good choices. For a treat, Van Horn said, “I buy lemons and limes and squeeze them into club soda or something else that’s effervescent.”

Something cold and zesty might taste especially good after a workout, even if it’s only a walk around the neighbourhood. For those who are newly homebound, such a stroll is a great way to replace the number of steps your body is accustomed to taking, Johnson said.

“Just do something,” she said. “Make sure you get out of your chair or sofa at least once an hour. Stretch. Move around. Carve time to walk the dog or play outside with your kids. It doesn’t have to be taxing. It will also help with your mood.”

Bodyweight exercises

Johnson knows from experience.

She went from the sleek physique of a college sprinter to wearing a size 12 dress in her 30s. Then a life insurance company asked her to get a check-up. It became her wake-up call. Motivated by a plaque commemorating her track career that hung in her bedroom, she slimmed to a size four and became a competitive bodybuilder. She wears a rubber bracelet that reads, in all caps, “Winning at Life”.

So, fitness is more than her job. And now that job is on hold. She so badly misses her clients and workout buddies that she cried while recording a video meant to encourage her boot campers.

For her individual clients, Johnson has emailed routines they can do at home based on available equipment. For newcomers without a home gym, she said YouTube offers plenty of how-to videos using only bodyweight exercises.

Johnson also is setting up online classes and has started her personal training clients on a guided squat challenge.

Since her pace may be too frantic for many people, her advice is to figure out what you’re willing to do, then get after it.

“Exercise,” she said, “is always the best medicine.”

READ | 5 tips for eating healthier during the coronavirus lockdown 

READ | ‘Stress eating’ while in lockdown? Here are tips to avoid it 

READ | Don’t abandon health eating during coronavirus pandemic

^{Image credit: iStock}

Dominic Raab’s been criticised for his comments on Boris Johnson’s coronavirus, but is this fair?

The coronavirus epidemic is threatening the UK’s organ transplant programme, experts warn.

Other coronaviruses are sensitive to the seasons.

Children to parents suffering from mental illness have a higher risk of injuries than other children, according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The risk is elevated up to 17 years of age and peaks during the first year of life. The findings highlight the need for parents with mental illness to receive extra support around child injury prevention measures as well as early treatment of mental morbidity among expecting parents.

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed an “off-the-shelf” artificial cardiac patch that can deliver cardiac cell-derived healing factors directly to the site of heart attack injury. In a rat model of heart attack, the freezable, cell-free patch improved recovery. The researchers also found similar effects in a pilot study involving a pig model of heart attack.