Media Coverage

A global early warning center in Berlin will use artificial intelligence to predict the next pandemic. But AI's already helped us fight COVID-19.

Misinformation on social media linked to higher spread of COVID-19 in new study

Dealing with the pandemic by drinking and swearing? Boffins say you're not alone

Researchers from York University and the University of British Columbia have found social media use to be one of the factors related to the spread of COVID-19 within dozens of countries during the early stages of the pandemic.

A collaboration led by York University researchers in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Health is using artificial intelligence (AI) to define public health policies and interventions.

Each episode is divided into two parts: the first section introduces information about culture, media, movies, etc., and invites news figures to accept personal interviews.

Hazardous things in your area: Focus on Ruimsig

The South African health research team stated that compared with the current main variants of COVID-19, Delta and Beta, the reinfection rate of the Omicron is three times higher.

Public health experts are studying the number of Covid-19 infections in Gauteng to determine if the province has entered the fourth wave.

In contrast to higher-income nations like Canada, lower-to-middle-income countries still experience high unemployment rates in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns and economic restrictions.

Government needs to take drastic action to avoid the country reaching a tipping point of 100 locally acquired cases, according to a team of researchers at Wits university

Giving feedback on the provincial weekly meeting Gauteng provincial government’s advisory committee announced that Gauteng appears to be ready to relax lockdown regulations.

The number of confirmed cases of the new crown has risen sharply, and the fourth wave of the epidemic in South Africa may be coming soon – yqqlm

Omicron's problem is the speed with which it affects the unvaccinated

Omicron is spreading at a rate never seen before

News - South China Morning Post « »

Omicron spreading quicker than all other Covid-19 variants in South African ‘epicentre’

10 years since Higgs Boson was found - SAfm Sunrise - Omny.fm

EU budget for Africa-EU Partnership should ring-fence at least €1bn per year for strengthening African research unis, in partnership European unis

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the global economy. Here, we compare and analyze the macroeconomics of three different countries with distinct income levels, namely, lower-middle (Nigeria), upper-middle (South Africa), and high (Canada) income. 

AI algorithm system predicts low risk of third wave in SA

Accurate modeling is one of the tools being used to fight the COVID-19 pandemic globally. It is essential for policy makers, experts and the population to get access to reliable information on the evolution and severity of the pandemic based on relevant and robust advanced analytics and modeling.

An artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithm that has been designed by the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University) in partnership with iThemba LABS, the Provincial Government of Gauteng and York University in Canada, shows that there is a low risk of a third infection wave of the COVID pandemic in all provinces of South Africa.

Un algoritmo basado en inteligencia artificial (IA) que ha sido diseñado por la Universidad de Witwatersrand (Universidad de Wits) en asociación con iThemba LABS, el Gobierno Provincial de Gauteng y la Universidad de York en Canadá, muestra que existe un bajo riesgo de una tercera ola de infección de la pandemia de COVID en todas las provincias de Sudáfrica.

(Bloomberg) – South Africa is expanding its coronavirus-inoculation programme as the pace of vaccine deliveries accelerates, acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said.

As some African countries emerge from the most recent round of COVID-19 infections, the continent’s public health leaders are preparing for the next wave, expected to arrive with the end-of-year holidays.

Gauteng province is one of the in land provinces in South Africa. It is famous for its industrial land and opportunities for growth thus housing a big population of South Africa. 

The committee, close by Premier David Makhura, was leading an oversight visit on Monday at the Itireleng Community Healthcare Center in Soweto.

The Provincial Command Council led by Premier David Makhura gave an update on Covid-19 in Gauteng on June 24 at the Provincial Command Centre, Ormonde.

Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) has launched an up to the minute data analysis tool dedicated to capturing and analyzing the demographic spread of the novel corona virus in Botswana as it happens.

South Africa’s commercial hub of Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, risks running out of coffins as Covid-19-related deaths surge.

Fatalities have risen 57% in the past week, data from National Institute of Communicable Diseases show.

As Gauteng is witnessing an unprecedented rapid increase in positive coronavirus cases, provincial premier David Makhura called for calm.

A possible sustained increase in coronavirus infections in Gauteng this week and in the following weeks will be important signals to tell whether the Gauteng province will be experiencing the fifth wave.

A possible sustained increase in coronavirus infections in Gauteng this week and in the following weeks will be important signals to tell whether the Gauteng province will be experiencing the fifth wave.

Recent studies suggest that Digital Technology (DT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be effectively used to contain the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

South Africa’s new lockdown measures will be key to stopping the local spread of the coronavirus in South Africa, says Wits University Professor Bruce Mellado.

South Africa’s cases of the coronavirus pandemic have reached a high of five-hundred and fifty four people nationwide, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Tuesday, 24 March 2020.

The Gauteng command council is warning that a fourth wave of the coronavirus may hit the province as soon as next month.

JOHANNESBURG - The Gauteng request board of trustees is alerted that a fourth surge of the Covid may hit the region when one month from now.

People were told that the province reported a 300% rise in cases over the last week, much higher than expected given the history of the pandemic. He added that the province was now awaiting further data, independent from what had already been received.

While the number of active Covid-19 cases continue to decline in Gauteng, health officials on Monday warned that the risk of a fourth wave remained very high amid a low uptake in vaccinations in the province.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura has called on citizens to remain vigilant because while the COVID-19 storm in the province has slowed down, it is yet to pass.

Gauteng could see a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in January as residents return home from their various holiday destinations.

Guardian dẫn lời giới chức y tế Nam Phi ngày 2/12 cho biết, Omicron đang lây lan "đáng lo ngại" ở nước này và đang nhanh chóng trở thành biến chủng trội chỉ sau vài tuần xuất hiện.

If we are to go with what Premier of Gauteng David Mkhura said and the data modelling, things are not looking good for the province. 

The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has launched a website that presents the latest statistics on the effect of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) on the population of South Africa.

The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has teamed up with York University, in Canada to undertake an artificial intelligence (AI) project that will be used to tackle the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in Africa.

“The possibility of such a surge is very high if population adherence to public health measures reduces,” said University of the Witwatersrand professor Bruce Mellado.

Johannesburg – A fourth wave of Covid-19 might hit Gauteng as early as next month due to possible super-spreader events taking place, the Gauteng Provincial Command Council has warned.

Professor Bruce Mellado made the remarks at the SABC’s headquarters in Auckland Park on Thursday at a pop-up vaccination site. 

Professor Bruce Mellado, a member of Gauteng’s Premier’s Advisory Committee (PAC) on Covid-19 speaks to Breakfast host about the department’s observation on people’s behavior after the easing of restrictions. 

A visual analytics tool is helping the Gauteng government visualise prediction models provided by the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) to see predicted active Covid-19 cases, as well as predicted hospital bed availability over time.

The seven-day rolling average for infections detected in the densely populated province, which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria and accounts for the bulk of the national caseload during the current wave, dropped to 11,503 on Tuesday, from 11,647 on Saturday

Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine cuts the risk of getting infected with the disease by about half, according to the latest results of a trial involving almost half a million health workers in South Africa.

York University hosted two major institutional conversations with South Africa during the 2022-23 academic year to explore opportunities for future partnerships.

The success of a 2021 agreement between York University and the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa to tackle COVID-19 across Africa, has led to a grant expanding the scope of the project throughout the Global South.  

A group of professors affiliated in various ways with York University’s African Studies Program join forces to create a unique, interdisciplinary research cluster focusing on adaptive knowledge, response, recovery and resilience in transnational Black communities.

Lower-to-middle-income countries still struggle with high unemployment rates after COVID-19 lockdowns and economic restrictions, unlike higher-income countries such as Canada, finds a new study led by York University with the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

In contrast to higher-income nations like Canada, lower-to-middle-income countries still experience high unemployment rates in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns and economic restrictions, according to a recent study conducted by York University in collaboration with the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

A collaboration led by York University researchers in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Health is using artificial intelligence (AI) to define public health policies and interventions to contain and manage the spread of COVID-19 in Africa.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the limitations of global pandemic monitoring systems, leading to varied responses worldwide. This episode features Antoine Saab, PhD, discussing his project "Strengthening Lebanon's pandemic surveillance system through AI-driven automation of laboratory data," funded by the Canadian AI4PEP program.

The goal is to design health-care solutions based on local data from different sources and to develop and train AI algorithms to address specific needs such as predicting outbreaks in a set region.

A new analysis of COVID-19 cases in Africa shows that for most of the continent’s countries the rate of infection was likely much higher than reported in the initial stages, found York University researchers.