An average of around 540 000 cases was reported globally each day over the past week as compared to 490 000 cases reported daily the week before.
Of the four COVID-19 mutations that WHO has designated “variants of concern”, the UN agency said that the Alpha variant is present in 182 countries, Beta is in 131, Gamma in 81 and after reaching eight new countries in the past week, the Delta variant is now in 132 countries.

California expands state healthcare to undocumented residents 50 and up

Jul 27, 2021

But California is not the first state to provide comprehensive public medical benefits to its undocumented elderly population. Illinois last December became the first to extend state-funded healthcare coverage to all non-citizens age 65 and older whose immigration status had left them ineligible for Medicaid.

Newsom’s action builds on two earlier expansions of Medi-Cal – California’s version of the state-federal Medicaid system for the poor and disabled. They provided full-scale coverage to undocumented children, then to young adults until their 26th birthday regardless of immigration status beginning last year.

South Africa port operator declares Force Majueure over over cyber attack

Jul 27, 2021

The measure covers the Durban, Ngqura, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town harbors because of the effects of the July 22 attack, according to a notice Transnet sent to customers and seen by Bloomberg News.

The issues “continue to persist,” it said. Force majeure is an unanticipated or uncontrollable event that releases a company from fulfilling contractual obligations.”The disruption threatens to have a ripple effect on Africa’s most-industrialized economy, particularly as Transnet’s Durban port handles 60% of the nation’s shipments. The ports are also key to shippers from landlocked African countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Regulators turn spotlight on company sustainability ratings

Jul 27, 2021

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which groups market regulators from the United States, Europe and Asia, recommended in a consultation paper on Monday that its members consider formally regulating an industry that has so far largely been left to its own devices.

This lack of regulation has prompted concerns among some investors, who say methods of calculating ESG ratings are opaque, and environmentalists, who fear “greenwashing” – or that companies might sometimes get an ESG rating they don’t deserve.

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