Legislation has been amended to allow the companies to fund shots for people who don’t have medical insurance and talks are now focused on the number of those who may benefit, said Stavros Nicolaou, head of the Health Workgroup for B4SA, a grouping of South Africa’s biggest business organizations. In addition to medical insurers, companies such as miners may contribute funds so their workers can be covered, he said.

The move by Centene to expand mental health support comes as more than two out of five Americans are struggling with mental or behavioral health issues associated with the pandemic, the company said.
“I was thinking about it long before the pandemic, the pandemic just emphasized it,” said Centene Chairman, President and Chief Executive Michael Neidorff.
Centene’s patients, after being diagnosed with a serious illness, such as cancer, would benefit from having increased access to mental health care, Neidorff added.

Cases of the new coronavirus increased by nearly 19% since last week and deaths increased by 26%, according to Africa CDC data. Africa has recorded 2.7 million coronavirus infections and 64,000 deaths as of Thursday, it says.

South Africa, where a new variant of the virus has been detected, recorded 82,000 cases in the past week, he said.