First Covid-19 patients were women, aged 28 and 48
Western Cape premier Alan Winde on Friday said the two patients reported by health minister Zweli Mkhize to have succumbed to Covid-19 were women.
“The 48-year-old woman’s condition worsened while in ICU, and she passed away this morning [Friday],” Winde said.
“The 28 year-old was admitted to hospital [on Thursday] and received emergency health care. She also passed away this morning. The clinical picture is consistent with Covid-19 but we are awaiting the test results to confirm this,” Winde said.
The health ministry had earlier said one of the women died in a private hospital while the other died in a public facility.
Rapport newspaper has identified the 48-year-old woman who died of Covid-19 in MediClinic Durbanville on Friday morning as Madeleine van Wyk. Her husband told Netwerk24 the family did not know where she had contracted the virus. He said she started feeling sick about a week ago.
The news comes as the number of coronavirus infections went past the 1,000 mark on Friday.
Winde sent his condolences to the families of those who died and called for a moment of silence at midday Friday.
“We mourn this loss as a province and as a country. Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of the deceased. I would like to ask all our residents to join me in a moment of silence at midday [Friday], as we mark the loss, and celebrate their lives,” he said.
He called on South Africans to abide by the lockdown laws put in place to curb the spread of the virus.
“As we all strive to stop its spread, by each making the decision to stay at home until it becomes absolutely necessary to pop out for absolute essentials, let’s have in our minds the lives we will each save if we all work together,” he said.
“We are staying home for ourselves, our family and friends, our grandmas and grandpas, for the health-care workers who are facing this virus head on and need our help to flatten the curve, and for our fellow men and women across South Africa,” he added.