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Biotech Startup Rolls Out Mobile Lab to Boost COVID-19 Testing in Nigeria
Biotech company 54Gene has increased Nigeria’s laboratory testing capacity for COVID-19 with a mobile laboratory in Ogun, a state in the South-West of the country. In addition to its DNA biobank lab in Lagos, the number of molecular laboratories in…
SA Government, UCT Partner on COVID-19 Tracing App
A group of researchers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) are developing a smartphone app that will help the South African government track people who may be unaware that they have contracted COVID-19, writes SABC News. The app will…
JUMEME to Provide Free Electricity to 10 Healthcare Centres in Tanzania
JUMEME, a mini-grid operator in Tanzania – co-funded by the European Commission, has launched a “COVID-19 Relief Programme” to support the Tanzanian government and local populations in their effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. With this programme, JUMEME says it…
Nigeria to Use HIV Test Equipment to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) will begin repurposing equipment designed for HIV and tuberculosis tests to accelerate COVID-19 testing, reports Tech Cabal. This is according to Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the NCDC, who relayed the information on an…
Face Masks vs. Respirators – What’s the Difference?
South Africa’s health minister has advocated the widespread use of masks for all citizens and now just about everything from cloth masks to regulation N95 masks are in limited supply. Now more than ever should South Africans understand the capabilities…
Old Mutual Offers $220 Million of Free Cover to South African Healthcare Workers
Old Mutual announced that it is making $220-million (R4-billion) worth of cover available to approximately 430,000 registered healthcare workers across South Africa. Unlike with traditional cover offered, this is neither a product nor a policy and no premiums will be…
African Tech Companies Unite Against COVID-19 through Safe Hands Kenya Alliance
‘Safe Hands Kenya’ is the nationwide public health awareness campaign backed by renowned Kenyan tech firms including Twiga, Jumia, KOKO Networks, Ushahidi, Copia, Lynk and M-KOPA. They join a broad alliance of community organisations providing rapid mass sanitation with free-hand…
African Scientists Successfully Sequence Local COVID-19 Genome
South African researchers announced the successful genome sequencing of a local sample of SARS-CoV-2, otherwise known as the novel coronavirus, in a report via Maverick Citizen. Scientists at the NICD (National Institute of Communicable Diseases) together with the South African…
COVID-19 Vaccine Backed by Bill and Melinda Gates Enters Human Trials
The world continues to reel from the impact of the novel coronavirus – a massive, spanning crisis that is meeting almost all aspects of our lives in some capacity. Economies stutter, businesses suffer, and human lives are lost. Amidst the…
Facebook wants to Share User Location Data during COVID-19 Pandemic
Facebook is ramping up efforts to help researchers and healthcare workers better understand the spread of COVID-19 through the Data for Good programme. In an official blog post, the social media giant says in order for public health systems to…
COVID-19 News: Johannesburg Hospital Innovates Device that Protects Healthcare Workers from Infection
Emergency doctors at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, in Johannesburg, South Africa, have innovated a new way to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19, reports Times Select. The development team managed to secure private sector funding within two days, and have already begun…
The 3 Best Ways to Track the Coronavirus Pandemic
The novel coronavirus has now reached nearly every corner of the globe, with billions under lockdown conditions, a million infected and thousands dead. Keeping informed in these unprecedented times can be difficult with all that’s ongoing in the world today.…
COVID-19 News: Tech Companies Work to Solve the Ventilator Shortage in Nigeria
Last week, LifeBank announced via Instagram that it was building a national register of ventilators, respirators and ICU beds in Nigeria – reports Tech Cabal. LifeBank founder, Temie Giwa-Tubosun says that they had found 126 units, possibly comprising all three…
South African Biotech Announces New Virucidal Disinfectant
Whilst many individuals, companies and manufacturers initially stocked up on disinfectants and sanitisers at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, did they foresee just how long these stocks would last? There are already many countries stopping exports of raw materials…
New COVID-19 Test Can Return Results in 5 Minutes
Medical device company Abbott has produced a new COVID-19 test that can return positive results in five minutes – and the device is compact enough to be run in a doctor’s office – according to The Verge. [Tweet “Medical device…
3 Innovative Opportunities COVID-19 has Created for Tech Companies
The world is reeling from the impact of the novel coronavirus, companies are suffering from cuts in profits and thousands of employees are forced home. However, what seems like a desperate moment in history can actually be turned into a…
