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SA records close to 1 700 new COVID-19 cases, 87 deaths

There were 1 691 new COVID-19 cases detected in South Africa, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported on Monday.

Meanwhile, 87 people succumbed to the respiratory disease, of which 25 occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours.

This means the country is now home to 3 560 921 laboratory-confirmed infections since the outbreak, while the death toll stands at 93 451.

Of the latest infections reported, Gauteng was the hardest-hit after 456 people tested positive in the province, followed by 316 in the Western Cape, 285 in KwaZulu-Natal, 185 in Mpumalanga, 119 in Limpopo and 110 in the North West.

According to the NICD, hospital admissions increased by 114 in the past 24 hours.

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In The News Inside Church

Pope: Search for Christian unity must be a journey together

Pope Francis began his address to the Ecumenical Delegation from Finland with a reflection on the Magi, the Wise Men of the Gospel who found the Child Jesus and worshipped Him.

“The Magi reached the goal because they sought it,” the Pope said. “Yet they sought it because the Lord, by the sign of the star, had first set out in search of them.” Like the Magi, we too are sought by God, “and our response must surely be like that of the Magi: a journey together.”

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Inside Church Media Room Worldwide

WCC mourns loss of Dr John Taylor, an interreligious bridge builder

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is mourning the death of Dr John Taylor, who with an initial job title of WCC programme secretary for Christian Muslim relations, later became head of the WCC interreligious office from 1980-83.

He also served as a consultant for the WCC for more than a decade.

He then went on to be secretary general of Religions for Peace and, in the 1990s, was involved in peacekeeping initiatives in the Balkans with his work for the Conference of European Churches.

He also attended and helped support the 9th WCC Assembly in Porto Alegre in 2006.

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Dr John Taylor with Stanley Samartha at a meeting with a muslim delegation from Saudi Arabia, Ecumenical Centre, Geneva, 31 October 1974, Photo: Wendy Goldsworthy / WCC Archive

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In The News

SA opens NantSA vaccine production campus

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to join Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder of the multinational conglomerate NantWorks, LLC, in launching the NantSA vaccine manufacturing campus in Brackenfell, Cape Town, on Wednesday.

The President and Dr Soon-Shiong will also launch the Coalition to Accelerate Africa’s Access to Advanced Healthcare (The AAAH Coalition).

This launch comes after an announcement made by Dr Soon-Shiong in September last year of an ambitious initiative to build capacity for advanced health care in Africa.

NantSA, a division of NantWorks, and The AAAH Coalition aim to accelerate domestic production of pharmaceuticals, biologics and vaccines that will reach patients across the African continent.

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Inside Church Worldwide

WCC extends prayers for Tonga in wake of volcanic eruption

Up to 80,000 people could be affected, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Tsunami waves following the eruption also wreaked significant damage.

“Amid the chaos and the uncertainty, we pray for you and we stand in solidarity with you amid a terrifying disaster,” said Sauca. “We pray for God’s mercy on you and on the rescue workers and first responders at the scene. We pray that God might guide the churches responding to the needs of the people as those needs change in the coming days.

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https://www.oikoumene.org/news/wcc-extends-prayers-for-tonga-in-wake-of-volcanic-eruption

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In The News Inside Church Worldwide

Fire destroys refugee camp on Church grounds in Alindao

“The fire broke out after a child tried to cook with palm oil,” said Philomene Dounda, the prefect of the Lower Kotto region where the camp is located.

Anita Cadonau, a communications officer with the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told AFP that the blaze happened on Tuesday at a camp in Alindao, 500 Kilometers east of the capital Bangui.,

About 5 000 people are now in urgent need of shelter, household necessities, food and water.

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In The News

SA reports 2 597 new Covid-19 cases

South Africa recorded 2 597 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, pushing the total number of laboratory-confirmed infections to 3 559 230 since the outbreak.

The majority of new cases today are from Western Cape after 721 people tested positive, followed by 602 in Gauteng, 547 in KwaZulu-Natal, 167 in the Eastern Cape, 129 in the Northern Cape and 122 in Limpopo, while the rest of the provinces logged less than 100 infections.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the latest increase represents a 10.6% positivity rate.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health reported 86 deaths due to the ongoing audit exercise, of which only 25 occurred in the past 24 to 48-hour reporting cycle.

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Inside Church Worldwide

Rev. Dr Susan Durber: “We belong to one, highly interconnected, world”

As the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity fast approaches, moderator of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Faith and Order Commission Rev. Dr Susan Durber reflects on the theme “We saw the star in the East,” and on what unity means for the world today.

Rev. Dr Durber: Sometimes I hear Christianity described as a ‘Western religion’, but my experience of the world church has taught me that it is not. Missionaries in the early Church first went East and some of the earliest churches are very far from the Western world. And in the heart of the infancy stories we have this tale of those who saw the star ‘in the East’ and came to worship the Christ child. I have been formed in a culture that has tended to exoticise ’the East’, in what the Palestinian philosopher Edward Said famously called ‘orientalism’. 

This story and theme reminds me that ’the East’ is more than a source of spices and colours for my Western life, but denotes a wealth of culture and wisdom which is offering gifts to us all.

Photo: Albin HIllert/WCC

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President Ramaphosa: We need to protect our Constitution

As South Africa entered the new year, we were confronted by two profound events that reminded us, in different ways, of what brings us together as a people.

On the first day of 2022, the nation gathered in spirit to bid farewell to Archbishop Desmond Tutu at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town. It was a moment of great sadness as we recalled the life and contribution of a beloved compatriot who was, in many ways, the moral conscience of our nation. At the same time, his funeral was a celebration of the values he stood for. It was a celebration of the great unity and diversity of our people, and a reminder of the sacrifices made by so many to achieve our democracy.

On the second day of 2022, the country watched on in horror as a huge fire engulfed our Parliament, just a hundred metres from where we had gathered the day before to pay our last respects to Archbishop Tutu.

Photo: GCIS

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In The News

Western Cape, KZN and Gauteng lead new COVID-19 cases

The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) has reported at least 5 920 new COVID-19 infections in South Africa over the past 24-hour reporting period; bringing the cumulative number of cases to at least 3 546 808.

This is indicative of a 14.3% positivity rate which is lower than the previous reporting cycle’s 15.5%.

The provincial breakdown shows that the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng continue to report the majority of new cases:

  1. Western Cape – 1491
  2. Gauteng – 1198
  3. KwaZulu-Natal – 1142
  4. Eastern Cape – 559
  5. Limpopo – 524
  6. North West – 293
  7. Mpumalanga – 278
  8. Free State – 218
  9. Northern Cape – 217

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