Prominent Indian-origin virologist in South Africa dies from coronavirus
Johannesburg: World-renowned virologist Gita Ramjee has become the first Indian-origin South African to have died after contracting the novel coronavirus that has killed five people in the country.
Ramjee, a stellar vaccine scientist and an HIV prevention research leader, had returned from London a week ago but reportedly showed no symptoms of COVID-19.
Ramjee, 64, was the Clinical Trials Unit Principal Investigator and Unit Director of the HIV Prevention Research Unit of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) offices in Durban.
"We are deeply saddened to inform you of the tragic passing of Prof Gita Ramjee in hospital today," said a statement issued by SAMRC President and CEO Glenda Gray.
"Prof Ramjee died of COVID-19 related complications," Gray added.
In 2018, Ramjee was presented with the Outstanding Female Scientist Award in Lisbon by the European Development Clinical Trials Partnerships (EDCTP) for her lifetime commitment to finding new HIV prevention methods, which are conducive to the lifestyles, circumstances and perceived risk factors that South African women are faced with.
"This award is an acknowledgement of the unwavering determination by a global community to forever change the trajectory of the HIV/AIDS epidemic," she had said at the time.
"Professor Gita Ramjee is a towering HIV prevention research leader whose work continues to contribute immensely to the global response to curb the HIV/AIDS epidemic," Gray had said after the Indian-origin scientist received the award.
Ramjee was married to pharmacist Pravin Ramjee, a South African of Indian descent.
Her funeral arrangements have not been announced. Attendance at funerals in South Africa is highly restricted and requires permits as the country is going through a 21-day nationwide lockdown announced last week by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Five South Africans have died from COVID-19 since Sunday, the third day of the lockdown. Over 13,50 cases have been reported in the country so far.
The South African government on Tuesday announced that it will double to 10,000 the teams going door-to-door to test people for COVID-19, mainly in the overcrowded Black townships created during the apartheid era.
On Sunday evening, in a national broadcast, Ramaphosa cautioned thousands of South Africans who have not been taking the lockdown seriously.
The death toll from the rapidly-spreading coronavirus pandemic has risen to 41,654 and over 850,580 people have been infected by the deadly virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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Narine stars as KKR beat LSG by 98 runs, go to top of table
Lucknow, May 5: Sunil Narine's sparkling fifty and a collective effort by the bowlers fashioned Kolkata Knight Riders' 98-run win over Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL here on Sunday.
Deciding to bowl first didn't go as per plan for LSG as KKR became the first team to cross the 200-run mark at the Ekana stadium.
Proving his worth with the willow once again, Narine (81 off 38 balls) went on a six-hitting spree, blasting seven maximums and six fours to take the visitors to 235/6.
Chasing an imposing total, LSG batters had to go from the word go but the hosts found it hard to get the big shots and were eventually bundled out for 137 in 16.1 overs.
Within the first 10 overs, LSG had lost half the side including skipper KL Rahul (25), Arshin Kulkarni (9), Deepak Hooda (5) and big hitters Marcus Stoinis (36) and Nicholas Pooran (10).
Ashton Turner hit some lusty blows and looked in mood to showcase his batting prowess but the Australian was supremely unlucky as an inside edge deflected off his boot with Varun Chakravarthy completing a caught and bowled.
With the win KKR moved to the top of the table. They have 16 points, the same as Rajasthan Royals but have played one game more.
LSG, on the other hand, dropped out of the top four to the fifth spot with 12 points from 11 games. Their Net Run Rate also took a massive hit going down from 0.094 to -0.371.
Earlier, the in-form Narine, who was dropped twice in the space of two balls, smoked five boundaries in five balls, setting the tone for the KKR innings.
First, he hammered back-to-back fours off Naveen-ul-Haq in the last two balls of the third over. He then attacked the offside, hitting three boundaries on the trot off Mohsin Khan in the fourth over.
Narine and Phil Salt (32) gave the two-time champions the explosive start they have come to expect from the duo. Together they put up a quick 61-run stand before Naveen-ul Haq took the pace off the ball to send the Englishman packing.
Medium pacer Yash Thakur then stemmed the flow of runs in the final over of the powerplay, giving away only two runs as KKR reached 70/1.
However, the unperturbed Narine continued his onslaught and brought up his fifty off 27 deliveries with a cheeky late dab that sent the ball rolling past short third.
He took a particular liking to Marcus Stoinis, sending the ball over the fence three times in the 11th over.
But Ravi Bishnoi, on whose bowling Narine was dropped twice before, was third time lucky as he put an end to the all-rounder's spectacular innings.
The LSG bowlers were able to rein in the KKR batters as they kept taking wickets.
Naveen-ul Haq got rid of Andre Russell (12) before Yudhvir Singh, who came as a concussion sub for Mohsin Khan, picked up young Angkrish Raghuvanshi's (32) wicket in the next over.
The Afghan pacer swung back into action to account for the big-hitting Rinku Singh (16) while Thakur removed Shreyas Iyer (23).
But Ramandeep Singh's unbeaten 25 off 6 balls took KKR past the 230-run mark.
