Facts in Q&A format

The authors of an academic paper, which hasn’t been peer reviewed, claim that there is a correlation between Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination and the extent to which countries are affected by Covid-19. BCG is a tuberculosis vaccine.

Professor Salim Abdool Karim, a clinical infectious…

Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, minister of communications and digital technologies, told a media briefing on 2 April that the lockdown regulations allowed the government to obtain the location information for a cellphone number if the owner had tested positive for Covid-19. The minister of cooperative…

President Muhammadu Buhari announced a two-week extension of the lockdown on 13 April. At no point during the speech did he say Nigerians should appreciate him for the extension.

 

More: Was President Buhari Smug Over the Two-Week Extension to the Lockdown?

There is no effective cure for HIV, but with proper medical care, the disease can be controlled. HIV treatment involves taking medicine, called antiretroviral therapy (ART), that reduces the amount of HIV in your body. It’s important to remember that taking HIV medicine does not prevent the…

An estimated 2.5 out of every 100,000 women and girls were killed in Kenya in 2016. This internationally comparable rate for deaths from interpersonal violence was similar to the global average of 2.6.

 

More: Five facts: Femicide in South Africa

The Burden of Disease Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council has been using information from the National Population Register and historical data from 2018 and 2019 to estimate the number of deaths that could be expected during 2020. They compare it with deaths registered…

The South African Police Service (SAPS) recorded 7,833 sexual assaults in 2019/20. This is a 3.7% increase from the number of offences in 2018/19 which was 7,557.

 

More: FACTSHEET: South Africa’s crime statistics for 2019/20

Hand hygiene plays a crucial part in the prevention of the spread of the new coronavirus.

According to the World Health Organization, research has shown that nurses who regularly used alcohol hand rubs had less skin irritation and dryness than those using soap and water.

As a result of the…

The percentage has varied over time. On 3 June, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reported that 75% of Covid-19 cases in Nigeria had unknown sources of infection; 2% had a travel history and 23% were contacts of existing patients. “It means that community transmission is happening. It…