South Africa is mourning the sudden death of Jackson Mthembu, a cabinet minister and presidential adviser who was the public face of South Africa's fight against COVID-19. President Cyril Ramaphosa offered condolences in a statement Thursday, saying he was shocked and saddened that 62-year-old Mthembu had died from COVID-related complications. He is the first of six South African cabinet members infected with COVID-19 to succumb to the disease. Mthembu revealed last week that he tested positive for the virus during a checkup for abdominal pain. His death comes as South Africa battles a second wave of COVID-19 propelled by a virus variant believed to be more easily spread. So far, South Africa has confirmed more than 1.3 million infections and 39,501 deaths, according to John...

The leading infectious disease expert in the United States says the country will participate in the global initiative to provide COVID-19 vaccines to poor countries. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical adviser to new U.S. President Joe Biden, told the executive board of the World Health Organization Thursday during a videoconference that the U.S. will join the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX, an international alliance led by WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, an organization founded by Bill and Melinda Gates to vaccinate children in the world’s poorest countries. Fauci also said the U.S. would fulfill its financial obligations to the Unit...

Zimbabwe is mourning the death of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Sibusiso Moyo. The government said the country's top diplomat died Wednesday after contracting COVID-19. Moyo gained international notoriety as an army general, becoming the spokesperson of the 2017 coup that ousted longtime President Robert Mugabe, who was replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa. Moyo is the third cabinet minister to succumb to COVID-19 in the past six months. Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs Ellen Gwaradzimba died last week, and Agriculture Minister Perrance Shiri died of the disease in July. The 61-year-old Moyo was reportedly getting weekly treatment for a kidney ailment at the time of his death. COVID-19 infections and deaths are on the rise in Zimbabwe, with...