For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.

Making headlines: Eastern Cape hospitals fill up again as Covid-19 resurgence takes hold, South African government to deport foreign nationals and, Decline in Covid-19 vaccine confidence could compromise effectiveness

Eastern Cape hospitals fill up again as Covid-19 resurgence takes hold

The number of cases and hospitalisations in the Eastern Cape, as a result of coronavirus, are seeing a resurgence after weeks of ongoing, but slow, transmission.

Reported data shows that in the month of October the province started seeing an upward trend in the number of cases and hospital admissions and early indications are clear that a long-warned "second wave" has arrived in the province.

As of Thursday, 710 people were admitted to 98 hospitals (public and private) in the province. This was the highest number of concurrent admissions the province had seen to date, according to available data.

South African government to deport foreign nationals

South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs said on Friday it had started the process of deporting 20 foreign nationals who were among hundreds of asylum seekers and refugees that staged protests over their plight in Cape Town late last year.

The deportations follow a successful law enforcement operation undertaken by officials from the department’s Inspectorate, supported by police, the Cape Town council and the departments of Social Development and Health, Home Affairs said in a statement.

Late last year, hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers protested against the UNHCR in Cape Town, accusing the organisation of failing to help them get documents from the Department of Home Affairs or secure resettlement in other countries and of not protecting them against xenophobic attacks targeted largely against foreign nationals from African countries.

Decline in Covid-19 vaccine confidence could compromise effectiveness

World Economic Forum head of shaping the future of health and healthcare Arnaud Bernaert said a decline in coronavirus vaccine confidence was a remarkable and sad trend as the world moves closer toward a possible vaccine roll-out.

A recent WEF/Ipsos global survey revealed that the percentage of people willing to take a Covid-19 vaccine when it is rolled out has dropped to 73%.

Fifteen countries were polled, with ten of the countries showing a drop in vaccination intent, specifically China, Australia, Spain and Brazil.

The foremost reason, by 34% of respondents, was the worry about vaccine side effects, while 33% said clinical trials were moving too fast.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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