CORONA VIRUS UPDATE: Covid-19 Cases In SA Now At 709

The Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhize, has announced that the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Africa has increased. Read More.

Wednesday 25th March 2023

Health Minister Mkhize confirms the total of coronavirus cases in South Africa currently stands at 709. South Africa has had no deaths connected to the virus. However, 2 patients who tested positive are in ICU in private hospitals.

Tuesday 24th March 2023

Last night during his address, the President announced that South Africa will participate in a 21-day lockdown starting Thursday, 26 March at midnight and ending on Thursday 16 April.

Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize has confirmed that the country now has 554 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. This means that there has been an increase of 152 cases since yesterday.

Health officials have been consistent in contact tracing and national tracking of the virus.

Monday 23rd March 2023

The National Institute for Communicable Disease has reported that South Africa now has 402 confirmed cases of COVID19. This means there has been an increase of 128 from yesterday’s announcement.

100 of these cases are from the Western Cape. The biggest increase has been in Gauteng which saw an additional 75 cases bringing their total to 207.

The President is set to address the nation tonight to discuss further measures to tackle the Covid-19 challenge.

Sunday 22nd March 2023

The National Institute for Communicable Disease has confirmed that the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa has increased by 34 to a total of 274 cases.

“Of the 274 cases, 208 (76%) have a history of travel from an area where COVID-19 is circulating. The majority of those without international travel history have had recent contact with persons who have traveled internationally”.

Earlier it was announced that the President would make a speech to the county about the measures taken to address the international pandemic. However, as the meeting of the national committee of all parties dealing with the crisis was carrying on late into the night it was later announced that President Ramaphose would only address the nation on Monday morning.

Saturday 21st March 2023

From Minister of Health Zwele Mkhize: As of today, South Africa now has 240 confirmed cases of Covid-19. This means there has been an increase of 38 from yesterday’s announcement.

It is also notable that the Eastern Cape has its first confirmed case. This patient is a 28-year-old female who traveled to Germany”.

There are 16 new cases in Gauteng. 3 in KZN, 1 in Eastern Cape, 18 in Western Cape,

On a more positive note, the husband and wife who were the first two patients to be confirmed to be infected with the Covid-19 infection have both now recovered and return to their home. They were part of a group of 10 South Africans who traveled to a ski resort in northern Italy. It is believed that 9 of those 10 travelers tested positive for Covid-19.

Friday, March 20th

There are now 202 cases of the Coronavirus which has been declared a national disaster by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Globally, there are now 247,595 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 10,064 deaths. The virus has spread to 182 countries/territories.

Among the new cases in the country is a 2-year-old boy from the Western Cape who has not traveled internationally. This is the youngest confirmed case.

“It is notable that there are eight cases of local transmission,” said the Minister in a statement.

There Are 14 New Cases in Gauteng:

1. -A 45-year-old male who had traveled to Belgium, UK, France, and the US
2. -A 37-year-old male who had traveled to the UK
3. -A 54-year-old female who had traveled to the USA
4. -A 52-year-old male who had traveled to the UK
5. -A 25-year-old male who traveled to the UK
6. -A 52-year-old female who had traveled to Italy
7. -A 59-year-old male who traveled to the UK and Dubai
8. -A 57-year-old male who traveled to the USA
9. -A 60-year-old male who traveled to the USA
10. -A 37-year-old female who traveled to Italy and Dubai
11. -A 21-year-old female with no travel history
12. -A 34-year-old male with no international travel history
13. -A 26-year-old female with no international travel history
14. -A 32-year-old female with no international travel history
15. There are four new cases in KwaZulu-Natal:
16. -A 48-year-old male who traveled to Dubai
17. -A 59-year-old female with no international travel history
18. -A 5-year-old male with no international travel history
19. -A 3-year-old male with no international travel history
20. There are five new cases in the Western Cape:
21. -A 3-year-old male who traveled to the UK
22. -A 58-year-old male who traveled to the UK and Austria
23. -A 2-year-old male with no international travel
24. -A 62-year-old female who traveled to the UK and Ethiopia
25. -A 71-year-old female who traveled to the UK

The Minister said there was a debate with clinicians, epidemiologists, virologists on when the government must release results to the public.

“These experts raised an issue of an ethical obligation to immediately alert patients as soon as the results become available.

“This, therefore, means that by the time a confirmation test is conducted in public laboratories, patients would have been notified of their initial results. This clarification is important because as government, we had announced to the public that all positive results will be verified through our public laboratories and the NICD,” explained the Minister.

He said in an effort to ensure transparency, the government had decided to release results as they are submitted by both public and private labs.

“In instances where our confirmation tests give contrary results, we will inform the public, make reference to that specific result previously announced and give the outcome of the confirmation results.

“Whilst we respect that private laboratories have the capacity to test and on their own issue results, our intention and approach is to ensure that there is credibility in the information and results given to the public.“Whilst we appreciate the importance of being transparent with South Africans, we will not do so irresponsibly and not take into account all clinical and any other broader implications of the information we give to you,” he said.

Repatriated South Africans

Mkhize further announced that the South Africans who were repatriated from Wuhan City, in China have tested negative for COVID-19. The group arrived in South Africa on Saturday and is in quarantine at The Ranch Hotel in Limpopo.

“It gives us great pleasure to also announce to South Africans that all the citizens from Wuhan were tested and their results came back negative for COVID-19. We continue to keep them in quarantine for the prescribed period and will thereafter initiate the process of reunifying them with the community,” said the Minister.