Sylvester_TUTjourn

By Sylvester Raraza Email: sylvesterraraza@gmail.com Twitter: @Syvester_tut Bread, breakfast cereals, maize meal (which is used to make popular South African cuisine Pap) and other food products that are produced by using grain, are all set for price increments, according to South Africa’s largest food producer Tiger Brands. These food price increases are going to hammer already under pressure consumers, who have been hit with continued fuel price hikes. Tiger Brands anticipates that wheat and grain food products are likely to surge at a rate of between 15% and 20%. And it doesn’t end there, Tiger Brands Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Noel Doyl, says Koo baked beans and other food products packaged in tins should be expected to rise in costs. Consumers have certainly been feeling the pinch of food price inflation. Picture: Albany via their website. The context from which these food price hikes should be drawn from is the conflict in Europe, between Russia and Ukraine, and China’s

By Sylvester Raraza Email: sylvesterraraza@gmail.com Twitter: @Sylvester_tut Although South Africa has no reported and confirmed cases of Monkeypox, experts urge the public to be cautious about the person-to-person transmissible virus. Monkeypox is a virus that is a family to the genus Orthopoxvirus and Poxviridae, and these viruses are carried by different animal species and are known to infect human beings as well. Monkeypox disease in humans causes blister-like lesions (mostly resembling chickenpox) that appear on the face, and in extreme cases it develops on the soles of the feet, palms of the hands and other parts of the body. Its signs and symptoms are visible averagely between 7-14 days, and initial symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, backaches, chills and exhaustion. Monkeypox patient | Picture: Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. The monkeypox virus is transmissible through person-to-person and via human contact with an animal that has the virus, also through t

By Sylvester Raraza Email: sylvesterraraza@gmail.com Twitter: @Sylvester_tut Researchers have found a rising level of covid-19 virus particles in wastewater plants in Gauteng, which houses the Klipgat wastewater plant, and this plant services Soshanguve. The study by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) shows that the Omicron variant, the sub-variant of Omicron and elements of the deadly Delta variant were found in wastewater plants in Gauteng and in 18 wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in five other provinces.   The report also indicates that SARS-COV-2 found in wastewater treatment plants is rising countrywide, particularly in the Gauteng province. This also explains why we have been seeing a spike in covid-19 infections and a resurgence in clinical cases. South Africa is not in the 5 th wave just yet and this is shown by the low number of severe cases, ICU admissions and a small number of deaths due to covid-19. Wastewater testing | Picture: NICD / Twitter A