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The European Union’s executive said it has agreed to buy a limited supply of the Covid-19 drug remdesivir from United States-based drugmaker Gilead to address the short-term needs of European patients, and hoped to be able to order more later.

Remdesivir is the only drug so far authorised in the EU for use against Covid-19, but nearly all available supplies have already been bought by the United States.

The EU Commission has agreed to pay 63 million euros ($74m) to buy enough doses to treat about 30 000 patients, it said in a statement.

The US signed a deal with Gilead in June for more than 500 000 courses of treatment, which accounts for most of the production through September.

More than 16.83 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 660 997 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

Meanwhile Couth African police will be launching an investigation for alleged contravention of regulations in the Disaster Management Act related to people gathering for an alleged gathering at Andrew Mlangeni’s house on Tuesday.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo said the police were notified “via various media platforms” that mourners who visited the house should be arrested. He said the docket will be handed to prosecutors for a decision on whether to charge mourners.

Three South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members have been caught on camera smoking during the funeral service of anti-apartheid activist Mlangeni yesterday.

The three officials were caught by a Newzroom Afrika cameraman during the funeral service with their face masks lowered, lighting cigarettes while standing in close proximity.

The sale of tobacco has been banned under lockdown regulations which means the officials could have broken government’s cigarette ban.

The Western Cape needs different Covid-19 rules, to allow urgent economic activity and stop the “pandemic number two: unemployment, hunger and starvation”.

This was argued by Premier Alan Winde yesterday at his weekly digicon — calling for an urgent meeting with the two lead national ministers dealing with Covid-19 — Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Health Minister Zweli Mhkhize.

Winde said the lockdown regulations had caused “pandemic number two” – the economic catastrophe it had induced. The Western Cape now urgently needed a “differentiated” approach to the national regulations – to unlock the opening up of economic sectors currently battling to survive.

The future of schools and what happens beyond the four-week break is still causing confusion, unions and school governing bodies say.

The Department of Basic Education is yet to gazette updated regulations and school calendar dates after schools had to close again due to concerns about rising Covid-19 infections. Last Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Cabinet had decided public schools should stop on-site teaching from 27 July until 24 August.

The Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas) said it was still waiting for the department to issue new regulations before deciding on a plan of action to address its concerns.

South Africa’s largest cigarette manufacturer, British American Tobacco, says the state’s justification for banning the sale of tobacco products during lockdown is an “exercise in smoke and mirrors” that has produced “few benefits and immense harm”.

BATSA is set to challenge the ban in the Western Cape High Court next month.

The government defeated an earlier court challenge to unban cigarettes from the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association in June, with the court ruling that it fell within the powers of the state under the Disaster Management Act to ban the sale of tobacco.

But BATSA, whose brands include Dunhill, Peter Stuyvesant, and Lucky Strike, says it will be introducing new legal arguments not heard in the FITA case.

President Donald Trump’s much-heralded new tone on the coronavirus pandemic evaporated on Tuesday in a burst of misleading medical speculation, criticism for his own top virus expert, and praise for an eccentric preacher-doctor touting conspiracy theories.

Just a week ago, Trump sought to get his shaky reelection campaign back on track by addressing national criticism of a leadership void in a crisis that has already killed nearly 150 000 Americans and wreaked havoc on the world’s biggest economy.

The president admitted things were going to “get worse before they get better”. He indicated he was embracing the science. He finally urged the wearing of masks. — AFP