Kataza the baboon. Facebook / Baboon Matters The City of Cape Town has asked the public not to feed a baboon that has relocated to Tokai. The baboon, known as Kataza or SK11, is slowly being integrated into the Tokai troop. Video footage, however, shows humans feeding Kataza. The City of Cape Town has requested that Kataza…
As SA Rugby moves to determine which franchises will go to Europe in future, Rassie Erasmus has noted several potential benefits for the local game should that route be followed.The national director of rugby believes the high world rankings of Wales, Ireland and Scotland mean PRO Rugby is competitive and that fans will eventually identify…
(John Finney Photography/Moment/Getty Images) An abnormally bad season of weather may have had a significant impact on the death toll from both World War I and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, according to new research, with many more lives being lost due to torrential rain and plummeting temperatures. Through a detailed analysis of an ice…
A vehicle that was hit in the accident. A truck driver was killed in a horrific sequence of events following an initial crash in Pinetown. While trying to move the truck after the accident, it appeared to lose control. He died after falling out of the truck which ploughed into several cars and a wall.A truck driver…
Forty-two people have been implicated in a police car branding scam. Forty-two people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in a police vehicle branding scam. They face a range of charges including corruption, fraud, money laundering, theft and perjury.Of these, 22 are serving police members.Forty-two people are set to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on…
A one-time lockdown won’t halt the novel coronavirus and repeated periods of social distancing may be required into 2022 to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, Harvard scientists who modeled the pandemic’s trajectory said. Their study comes as the US enters the peak of its COVID-19 caseload and states eye an eventual easing of tough lockdown measures.
Agencies
The Harvard team’s computer simulation, which was published in a paper in the journal Science, assumed that COVID-19 will become seasonal, like closely related coronaviruses that cause the common cold, with higher transmission rates in colder months. But much remains unknown, including the level of immunity acquired by previous infection and how long it lasts, the authors said.
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On-off social distancing
Widespread viral testing would be required in order to determine when the thresholds to re-trigger distancing are crossed, said the authors. The duration and intensity of lockdowns can be relaxed as treatments and vaccines become available. But in their absence, on and then off distancing would give hospitals time to increase critical care capacity to cater for the surge in cases that would occur when the measures are eased. Conversely, too much social distancing without respite can be a bad thing. Under one modeled scenario “the social distancing was so effective that virtually no population immunity is built,” the paper said, hence the need for an intermittent approach.
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The authors acknowledged a major drawback in their model is how little we currently know about how strong a previously infected person’s immunity is and how long it lasts. At present the best guesses based on closely-related coronaviruses are that it will confer some immunity, for up to about a year. There might also be some cross-protective immunity against COVID-19 if a person is infected by a common cold-causing betacoronavirus.
PTI
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The virus is here to stay?
The team said it was highly unlikely that immunity will be strong enough and last long enough that COVID-19 will die out after an initial wave, as was the case with the SARS outbreak of 2002-2003. Antibody tests that have just entered the market and look for whether a person has been previously infected will be crucial in answering these vital questions about immunity, they argued, and a vaccine remains the ultimate weapon. Outside experts praised the paper even as they emphasized how much remained unknown.
Kataza the baboon. Facebook / Baboon Matters The City of Cape Town has asked the public not to feed a baboon that has relocated to Tokai. The baboon, known as Kataza or SK11, is slowly being integrated into the Tokai troop. Video footage, however, shows humans feeding Kataza. The City of Cape Town has requested that Kataza…
As SA Rugby moves to determine which franchises will go to Europe in future, Rassie Erasmus has noted several potential benefits for the local game should that route be followed.The national director of rugby believes the high world rankings of Wales, Ireland and Scotland mean PRO Rugby is competitive and that fans will eventually identify…
(John Finney Photography/Moment/Getty Images) An abnormally bad season of weather may have had a significant impact on the death toll from both World War I and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, according to new research, with many more lives being lost due to torrential rain and plummeting temperatures. Through a detailed analysis of an ice…
Kataza the baboon. Facebook / Baboon Matters The City of Cape Town has asked the public not to feed a baboon that has relocated to Tokai. The baboon, known as Kataza or SK11, is slowly being integrated into the Tokai troop. Video footage, however, shows humans feeding Kataza. The City of Cape Town has requested that Kataza…
As SA Rugby moves to determine which franchises will go to Europe in future, Rassie Erasmus has noted several potential benefits for the local game should that route be followed.The national director of rugby believes the high world rankings of Wales, Ireland and Scotland mean PRO Rugby is competitive and that fans will eventually identify…
(John Finney Photography/Moment/Getty Images) An abnormally bad season of weather may have had a significant impact on the death toll from both World War I and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, according to new research, with many more lives being lost due to torrential rain and plummeting temperatures. Through a detailed analysis of an ice…
