Eagle Eye Stories Online

A misleading claim widely shared on social media suggests "Covid-19 trackers" were covertly added to iPhone and Android handsets during unspecified "phone disruptions" in June. A  post  by British-Ghanaian actress Adjoa Andoh containing the claim, was retweeted more than 1,000 times, with the same wording also appearing in many other social media posts. It is true that a Covid-19 tracing software tool has appeared in the settings of both Android phones and iPhones as part of an update of their operating systems. But the "exposure notification" tool is switched off by default, and is not a tracing app itself. It enables an app to run in the background while still using Bluetooth. This lets the app measure the distance between two handsets - and then alert the phone owner if someone near them later tests positive for Covid-19. The update has caused some confusion, with people querying the new addition to their handsets on social media. "This is not a ne...

Hospitals in Madagascar have been struggling to cope with a surge of Covid-19 cases, while the president has been promoting an unproven product he says can cure the disease despite the World Health Organization (WHO) warning against using untested remedies. Cases have quadrupled in the past month in the Indian Ocean island, with more than 13,000 infections and 162 deaths from coronavirus, which has spread to all but one of its 22 regions. Despite the spike, President Andry Rajoelina stands by the herbal concoction called Covid-Organics, which was launched to great fanfare in April. It is produced by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research from the artemisia plant - the source of an ingredient used in a malaria treatment - and other Malagasy plants. The drink has been marketed as a prevention and remedy - and for the last four months been offered to children at school. Earlier in the month the president was out again distributing the tonic, along with essentials such as rice, oil, su...

  Russian President Vladimir Putin   announced the approval of a coronavirus vaccine for use on Tuesday, claiming it as a "world first," amid continued concern and unanswered questions over its safety and effectiveness. "A vaccine against coronavirus has been registered for the first time in the world this morning," Putin said on state TV. "I know that it works quite effectively, it forms a stable immunity." Putin added that one of his daughters had already taken it; he said she had a slightly higher temperature after each dose, but that: "Now she feels well." Developed by the  Moscow-based Gamaleya Institute , the vaccine has been named Sputnik-V, a reference to the surprise 1957 launch of the world's first satellite by the Soviet Union. It has yet to go through crucial Phase 3 trials where it would be administered to thousands of people. The claim of victory by Putin in the global push to make an effective vaccine against Covid-19 comes ami...

Image copyright OXFORD UNIVERSITY A coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford appears safe and triggers an immune response. Trials involving 1,077 people showed the injection led to them making antibodies and T-cells that can fight coronavirus. The findings  are hugely promising, but it is still too soon to know if this is enough to offer protection and larger trials are under way. The UK has already ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine. How does the vaccine work? The vaccine - called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 - is being developed at unprecedented speed. It is made from a genetically engineered virus that causes the common cold in chimpanzees. It has been heavily modified, first so it cannot cause infections in people and also to make it "look" more like coronavirus. Scientists did this by transferring the genetic instructions for the coronavirus's "spike protein" - the crucial tool it uses to invade our cells - to the vaccine they were developing. Thi...

Ghana is West Africa’s most impacted nation behind Nigeria, at a point in May 2020, Ghana led the regional case load. June has started with progressive lifting of more virus restrictions. President Akufo-Addo in his tenth address announced that whiles borders remained closed, some categories of academic institutions are allowed to resume, religious places can also reopen with strict conditions and the observance of health protocols. Social gatherings -weddings, funerals etc. – are to be allowed under certain conditions – among others with maximum 100 participants. As the 2020 polls loom, even political activity is allowed to be undertaken. July 17: 26,125 cases; health workers infected Over 2,000 health workers have tested positive for  COVID -19 since the index case was recorded in he country, head of the Ghana Health Service disclosed on Thursday. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye added that six out of a total of 2,065 workers have since succumbed to the virus whiles 1,870 others had recovere...