HOME RUN WITH NDAPEWOSHALI, TIMIA & SHELLEYGAN (1 MAY 2020)
Homerun 1 May
A
Windhoek Mayor Fransina Kahungu said that although they have received provisional permission to start operating next week Tuesday, it is up to the City of Windhoek to make sure the different informal markets meet the health and hygiene standards set by the health ministry.
Kahungu said that should the markets not meet the health standards, they stand to lose the provisional permission to operate, sending the many informal economy operators back home with no income.
The mayor was speaking to EagleFM at the Oshetu open market, better known as single quarters.
The mayor said she is positive that the hygiene and cleanliness will be maintained in the long run.
(Play audio)
With the informal market economy being given the go-ahead to resume operation with strict hygiene regulations, a number of vendors at the different informal markets have gone back for trading.
At Oshetu open market, one will find men cutting meat and selling to the few people visiting the market.
One also finds the women selling raw traditional food such ewanda, mahangu, mopane worms and ekundu.
EagleFM spoke to a handful of the vendors who resumed trading.
Peter Alweendo who sells beef at Oshetu said that he is pleased they can get back into business as they were forced to turn to their savings when the informal economy was closed, in the face of COVID19.
These savings were slowly drying up and while business is slow, he is happy they can operate again.
Alweendo said that he would appreciate it if the City of Windhoek could give a payment holiday on rent up until at least September as this will allow them to recover.
Thomas Thomas returned to the market today and says that while things look slow, he is pleased that they are allowed to trade again.
Thomas has been selling wood before at the market before COVID19 and is ready for things to return back to normal.
Wilemina who sells unprepared traditional food said that there was much uncertainty when they were ordered to close.
She is pleased that the market is now clean as in the past the market was not as clean
“Even the president can now come buy from here” Wilimina said.
Wilemina has been operating since Tuesday.
Regional News
Madagascar donates ‘cure mixture’ to Equatorial Guinea
The Equatorial Guinea president sent a special envoy with a chartered flight to Madagascar to take delivery of COVID-Organics, the purported and much-touted COVID-19 prevention and cure mixture.
The Malagasy president posted the development on his official Twitter handle. “Special Envoy of the President of Equatorial Guinea, Deputy Minister of Health Mitoha Ondo arrived on Malagasy soil to collect the Tambavy CovidOrganics / preventive and curative,” Andry Rajoelina tweeted.
He added: “Madagascar is there to help all friendly countries against COVID19.” Reports said the plane collected some 11,500 doses of COVID-Organics.
Of the consignment, 10,000 doses are of the supposedly preventive treatments and 1,500 doses of curative treatments, they were given as a donation by the Madagascar government.
“There are two treatment protocols (curative and preventive). The state of health of Covid-19 patients who took Tambavy CVO CovidOrganics improved after 7 days and fully recovered after 10 days,” President Rajoelina added.
Tianarivelo Razafimahefa, Madagascar Minister of the Interior and Decentralization said: “This is a gift from the President, the Malagasy people to the Guineans. We must not forget that it is important to help other countries, especially African countries, and it is urgent that we save human lives.”
Covid-Organics, is a tonic derived from artemisia – a plant with proven efficacy in treating malaria – as well as other indigenous herbs. It was developed by the Madagascar Institute of Applied Research but has not been tested or approved internationally.
First case of coronavirus in the Comoros – President confirms
Comoros announced its index case of the novel coronavirus this Thursday. The President of the Republic Azali Assoumani explained that the patient is a 50-year-old Franco-Comorian who has since been admitted to a hospital.
Borders are closed in Comoros while a curfew between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. is in effect. During this Ramadan period, the mosques are also closed but there is no full lockdown.
Azali Assoumani explained that contact tracing is being carried out. With this development, it leaves Lesotho as the sole African country without a confirmed case.
Major African stats: May 1 as of 7:00 GMT:
- Confirmed cases = 38,825
- Number of deaths = 1,634
- Recoveries = 12,543
- Infected countries = 51
- Virus-free countries = 1 (Lesotho)
SHOPRITE GROUP CONFIRMS 17 WESTERN CAPE STORES HIT BY CORONAVIRUS
The Shoprite Group said that 17 of its Western Cape stores had been hit by COVID-19.
Supermarkets have become breeding grounds for the virus.
The 17 Checkers and Shoprite stores have been closed.
The retail giant said that strict protocols were followed to curb the spread of the virus and when a case was confirmed, the affected store was immediately closed for deep cleaning.
All employees were also screened at a mobile clinic and, where necessary, staff was referred for further testing.
Those who have to self-isolate if they are suspected of having contracted the virus are placed on special leave with full pay.
The Western Cape Department of Health said that more than 200 supermarket workers had tested positive for COVID-19.
COVID-19 HAS HUGE IMPACT ON POOR CITIZENS, SAYS RAMAPHOSA IN MAY DAY MESSAGE
President Cyril Ramaphosa said the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown had a huge impact on poor South Africans, but it was necessary to curb the spread of the pandemic.
In his May Day statement, Ramaphosa said poor, unemployed and working-class South Africans were top of his mind.
He said as the country eased into level 4 lockdown, companies must ensure the safety of their workers
The president said while South Africa had implemented the lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, thousands in informal settlements didn’t have access to basic amenities and they were under-nourished.
“Millions of South Africans have struggled to earn a livelihood and to feed their families. We all recognise that the lockdown is necessary to save lives, it has kept the infections and fatalities low while giving us the time to mobilise more capacity for the expected peak in infections that scientists tell us is coming.”
The president said as permitted sectors re-open under level 4 lockdown, companies must ensure that workers were safe.
“Companies are expected to screen all workers for COVID-19 symptoms each day when they report for work and companies with more than 500 employees must make arrangements to test their workers.”
He said the country was expanding capacity for community-based screening and testing, care for hospitalised patients and to ensure that all health workers and frontline staff have protective equipment.
WHO TARGETS TEENS ON SOCIAL MEDIA TO DEBUNK VIRUS MYTHS
The World Health Organization said Friday it was working with social media companies in a bid to quash misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic — including on more light-hearted apps popular with teenagers.
The WHO said it had started working with TikTok and Snapchat since the pandemic broke out in a bid to reach out to teen and younger social messaging app users.
“We’re battling misinformation every day,” said Andy Pattison, the UN health agency’s digital solutions manager.
On social media, “false stories outperform the truth on every single subject” in how far and how quickly they spread, he told a virtual press briefing.
The WHO is therefore attempting to combat falsehoods with science-based messages through the most commonly-used social media apps, he said.
Aleksandra Kuzmanovic, the WHO’s social media manager, said the organisation had also established a presence on TikTok and Snapchat during the COVID-19 pandemic, because most of its followers on previous platforms were in the 25 to 35 age bracket.
“On TikTok and Snapchat, we are now reaching audiences that are much younger,” she said.
“It was important for us to communicate with teenagers how they can protect themselves.
“We are a science-based organisation that has serious information and TikTok is a platform that is perceived as funny — people share funny videos and information.”
Kuzmanovic said the challenge was how to put across serious, educational information on TikTok.
“With their help, we adjusted some of our video products to be suitable to the platform,” she said.
International News
Russia sees record daily rise in coronavirus cases
Almost 8,000 new cases reported in Russia with the death toll rising to 1,169 in the last 24 hours.
