JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s president says Jackson Mthembu has died from the coronavirus, becoming the first cabinet minister to succumb to the disease. The 62-year-old Mthembu in recent months had been a central figure in communicating to the public the South African government’s response...
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Jackson Mthembu, a central figure in communicating the South African government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, died of complications from the coronavirus, the president announced Thursday. He was 62. Mthembu is the first member of South Africa’s cabinet to succumb to...
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's trailblazing Black food writer Dorah Sitole's latest cookbook was widely hailed in December as a moving chronicle of her journey from humble township cook to famous, well-traveled author. The country's new Black celebrity chefs lined up to praise her as a mentor who...
GENEVA (AP) — World Economic Forum organizers are expecting leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for a virtual gathering next week — after the COVID-19 pandemic doused plans...
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Faced with a rapid resurgence of COVID-19 overwhelming the country’s hospitals and driven by a more infectious variant of the virus, South Africa has delayed reopening its schools. The variant is having far-reaching consequences for Africa’s most developed nation as...
BEIJING — China says it is now treating more than 1,000 people for COVID-19 as numbers of cases continue to surge in the country’s north. The National Health Commission said Friday that 1,001 patients are under care for the disease, 26 of them in serious condition. It says 144 total new cases were...
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The African Union announced Wednesday that it has purchased a total of 270 million doses of coronavirus vaccines for the continent from Pfizer, AstraZeneca through the Serum Institute of India, and Johnson & Johnson. At least 50 million of the doses will be available in the months...
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The African Union has secured close to 300 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in the largest such agreement yet for Africa, a continental official said Tuesday. Nicaise Ndembi, senior science adviser for the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Associated Press in...
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand will soon require that travelers from most countries show negative coronavirus tests before they leave for New Zealand. COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says New Zealand is in a fortunate position to have stamped out community spread of the virus, but takes...
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa is struggling to cope with a spike in COVID-19 cases that has already overwhelmed many hospitals, as people returning from widespread holiday travel have spread the country's more infectious coronavirus variant. Of particular concern is Gauteng province, the country's most...