COVID-19

ADF STAFF A new twist on the omicron coronavirus variant has some researchers concerned about the next development in the global pandemic. Known as subvariant BA.2, the new version of omicron is about 1.5 times more infectious than…

ADF STAFF A Tunisian tech company’s artificial intelligence (AI) software is part of a new venture to identify potentially deadly COVID-19 variants before they spread. InstaDeep was founded in Tunis in 2014 with just $2,000 to develop…

ADF STAFF As the more contagious, but less deadly omicron variant of COVID-19 begins to recede throughout the world, scientists and health care workers continue to discover new facets of the disease. Researchers now are reporting that…

ADF STAFF The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is negotiating with U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer to acquire supplies of antiviral COVID-19 pills. In November 2021, Pfizer announced that the pills,…

ADF STAFF On December 12, 2021, South Africa reported 37,875 cases of COVID-19, marking a new daily record that would later be seen as the peak of the virus. By late January 2022, new cases in South Africa had dropped sharply and…

ADF STAFF With its fast-moving, omicron-fueled fourth wave of COVID-19 in retreat, South Africa’s government recently announced it was lifting a nighttime curfew after nearly two years. Rescinding the midnight-to-4 a.m. curfew is part…

ADF STAFF Severe lockdowns are no longer an effective way to contain the spread of COVID-19, according to the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. John Nkengasong’s pronouncement was made at a news…

ADF STAFF African experts predict the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic might come to an end in 2022, but the disease will remain for a long time afterward. Evidence shows that the omicron variant, the most infectious strain of the…

ADF STAFFB Her emotions swirling, Kawthar Muhammad Musaed spoke at the recent opening of a medical oxygen generation plant — the first of its kind in Sudan’s Darfur region. Musaed recounted her search for medical oxygen in Nyala, the…

ADF STAFF Researchers are studying the latest variant of COVID-19 to raise concerns among public health experts after it appeared in a man who traveled to France from Cameroon. The so-called IHU variant, named for the Méditerranée…