Coronavirus South Africa
South Africa Begins First COVID-19 Vaccine Trial
Sourced from Getty Images The University of Witswatersrand has announced that South Africa’s first COVID-19 vaccine trial is set to begin, with participants to be enrolled by the end of the week. “This is a landmark moment for South Africa and Africa at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we enter winter in South Africa and pressure increases on public hospitals, now more than ever we need a vaccine to prevent infection by COVID-19,” Professor of Vaccinology at Wits University and Director of the South Africa Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Shabir Madhi, says in a virtual briefing. This new trial aims to find a vaccine that will prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection, which is the virus that causes COVID-19. “We began screening participants for ...
South Africa’s rAge Expo 2020 Has Been Cancelled
Sourced from rAge. South Africa’s largest annual video gaming, tech and geek culture expo has been cancelled for 2020. The rAge Expo has been ongoing without fail for nearly two decades. For the first time in 18 years, the Johannesburg-based event won’t be going forward due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “The 2020 expo was shaping up to be yet another awesome event, and the team is deeply saddened that rAge won’t be coming to life in the real world this year. This isn’t a decision that was taken lightly. It was the product of lengthy internal discussions as well as valued input from other stakeholders, and the team all agreed that the expo would serve everyone better if it was cancelled for now,” reads a statement from the expo’s official website. “The coronavirus pandemic has touched e...
SA Startup Making Waves with New COVID-19 Tracing Tech
Sourced from Forbes. A South African startup has launched a cheap approach to contact tracing in efforts to help with coronavirus measures. Contact tracing is a method of tracking used in countries like the United Kingdom, Singapore and South Korea to aid in containing SARS-CoV-2 infections. The tracing is able to track exactly who was in contact with an infectious person and thus limit further contact. South Korea, one of the only countries on Earth that have been able to bring a massive COVID-19 outbreak rapidly under control used contact tracing heavily. Currently, the country has just over a thousand cases and is no longer forcing stay-at-home lockdowns and most businesses are open. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_77d.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_77d.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto...
Ride-Hailing Businesses Begin to Recover
Sourced from Forbes. Uber Technologies Inc.’s global rides business is down 70% from this time last year, a small improvement from its rock-bottom fall during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Though slight, it is an indication that recovery is coming, albeit slowly. The decline in rides seems to be offset, if partially, by a boom in food delivery. Uber Eats’ gains have more than doubled, and they continue to accelerate, says Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO, speaking at a virtual tech conference hosted by Bank of America. Bloomberg reports that the ride-hailing company intends to continue to look for opportunities in the food delivery market. Khosrowshahi declined to comment on Uber’s proposal to buy Grubhub Inc., which was first reported by Bloomberg last month. Since being so hars...
Major Petrol Price Hike Could Cripple South Africa’s Economy says Expert
Sourced from the South African The major fuel price hike scheduled for tomorrow (3 June) is going to further hurt the economy and have a major impact on deeply indebted consumers. This is after the petrol price in the country slumped to a 21-year low as South Africa descended into a nationwide lockdown. All grades of petrol will spike at R1.18 ($0.07) a litre while diesel will increase by R0.22 ($0.013) a litre. Neil Roets, CEO of one of the largest debt counselling companies in South Africa, Debt Rescue, says the increases would have a devastating impact on consumers who are mostly three months or more behind in the repayments of their loans. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_56f.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_56f.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “This is going to lead to further un...
COVID-19 Boosts Demand for Human-Centered Digital Design
Sourced from TTEC.com If there is one thing that COVID-19 has highlighted; it is the importance of people in the economic value chain. Sandton-based business management consultant Immersion Group says that one of the emerging trends they’re seeing is that more organisations are seeking human-centred design experts to enhance or improve digital customer experiences, breaking down barriers that may be hindering their ability to satisfy their customers. Organisations are now facing urgent decisions as they pivot to accommodate the many unexpected circumstances, and when these challenges risk affecting the bottom line; it’s crucial that organisations rapidly take stock of what is working and what isn’t working when prioritising digital experiences that put the customer first. From onboarding t...
To Emerge from COVID-19 Businesses Will have to “Re-Think” Traditional Models
Sourced from Tech Loot Traditional models of business funding need a re-think if South Africa’s small businesses and entrepreneurs are to emerge from the financially crippling “winter of coronavirus” into a spring of growth and rejuvenation. Accepting that downturns, recessions and economic crises are inevitable, one needs to shift the focus into building “Zebra” companies – sustainable businesses with steady growth, strong balance sheets and cash flows, and able to withstand downturns – rather than “Unicorns that will die without the next round of funding”, says University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) Senior Extraordinary Lecturer, Daniel Strauss. “In the past, we had a mindset of ‘or’ – we either had a traditional SMME that was funded through debt or we had a start-up that was f...
