The EFF has joined calls for the government to implement a travel ban on India amid concerns over the new Covid-19 variant circulating in that country and other parts of the world.

Over the last few days, there have been growing concerns over the new Covid-19 variant, B.1.617, which was first detected in India.

Fears that the variant may have spread to SA, after a person who recently travelled from India to SA was being treated for Covid-19 in a KwaZulu-Natal hospital and 14 crew members of a cargo bulk carrier that sailed to Durban from India tested positive for Covid-19.

Biden says he plans to back WTO IP waiver for Covid-19 vaccines

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday threw his support behind waiving intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines, bowing to mounting pressure from Democratic lawmakers and more than 100 other countries, but angering pharmaceutical companies.

Biden voiced his support for a temporary waiver — a sharp reversal of the previous US position — after a speech at the White House, followed swiftly by an official statement from his chief trade negotiator, Katherine Tai.

“This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures,” Tai said in a statement, hours after telling an event hosted by the Financial Times: “Time is of the essence.”

Novavax vaccine shows 51% efficacy against SA variant of Covid-19, study finds

Novavax Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine had efficacy of 51% against infections caused by the SA variant among people who were HIV negative, and 43% in a group that included people who were HIV positive, according to a new analysis.

The variant, known as B.1.351, carries mutations that threaten the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, several studies have shown. Most vaccine makers, including Novavax, are testing versions of their vaccines to protect against emerging variants.

The Novavax post-hoc analysis was published in the New England Journal of Medicine along with full data from the company’s trial in SA, which included nearly 2,700 volunteers who had not been previously infected with the coronavirus.

Covid-19 spreading in rural India; record daily rises in infections, deaths

India reported a record 412,262 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday and a record 3,980 daily death toll, as a second wave of infections swamps the health system and spreads from cities into the vast countryside.

Covid-19 infections in the world’s second most populous nation have surged past 21 million, with a death toll of 230,168, health ministry data show.

Government modelling had forecast a peak in second wave infections by Wednesday.

Kenya reports Covid-19 variant detected in India – health ministry

A variant of Covid-19 first diagnosed in India has been detected in Kenya, the health ministry said on Wednesday, days after the same variant was detected in neighbouring Uganda.

The health ministry last week said Kenya was suspending flights to and from India.

Tanzania announced on Tuesday that it would suspend flights to and from India amid the Covid-19 surge in the Southeast Asian nation, the country’s health ministry said.

SA records more than 2,000 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours

SA on Wednesday recorded more than 2,000 new Covid-19 cases in a single day for the first time since mid-February.

Health minister Zweli Mkhize said 2,073 new infections were recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases recorded across SA to 1,588,221.

The new cases came from 33,414 tests, at a positivity rate of 6.5%.

Mkhize also said on Wednesday that 46 Covid-19 related deaths were recorded in 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities to 54,557.