COVID-19 WRAP | Death toll climbs to 11, another 70 infections reported, taking total to 1655

• Burundi to continue playing league football despite confirmed Covid-19 cases

• Man arrested after filming himself breaking lockdown rules

• IN PICTURES | 'We don't sleep' — SA's unsung heroes in fight against Covid-19

• Residents about the world take coronavirus surveillance into their own hands

April 5 2020 — 21:47

Death toll rises to eleven

On Sunday evening, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases was 1655. This was an increase of 70 from the previously reported cases.

“It is with sadness that we report yet another two deaths related to Covid-19. This takes the total number of Covid-19 related deaths in SA to 11,” health minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement.

“The first deceased patient is an 82-year-old female who was admitted to ICU on 29 March 2020. She had presented with fever, short breath, body pains, dry cough and sore throat. She also had co-morbidities that included hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol.

“The second deceased patient is an 86-year-old male admitted to hospital on 26 March 2020, with a diagnosis of bronchopneumonia and respiratory distress. He had an underlying condition of chronic obstructive airway disease (COAD).

“We convey our condolences to the family of the deceased and thank the health workers who were treating these deceased patients,” said Mkhize.

April 5 2020 — 15:37

WATCH | KZN newlyweds arrested for breaching Covid-19 regulations

A KwaZulu-Natal bridal couple will spend their first few hours as husband and wife behind bars after being arrested at their wedding on Sunday.

Members of the police and defence force gatecrashed a wedding in Nseleni, northern KZN, arresting the bridal couple, the pastor and more than 50 of their wedding guests.

April 5 2020 — 12:46

Covid-19 | North West to quarantine everyone testing positive after patient goes missing

The North West health department has taken a decision to place all confirmed Covid-19 patients and their contacts under its supervision after a patient could not be found at home.

The patient, from Bloemhof, was tracked down to a farm in Welkom in the Free State, the department said in a statement.

April 5 2020 — 12:35

IN PICTURES | 'We don't sleep' — SA's unsung heroes in fight against Covid-19

A gallery of beautiful photographs paying tribute to SA's unsung heroes working the streets during the national lockdown

April 5 2020 — 12:09

Five million masks to be bought with money from Solidarity Fund for Covid-19

More than R2bn has been pledged by South Africans to the Solidarity Fund.

More than 3,000 individuals donated amounts ranging from R1,000 to R100,000 while some of the donations came from large corporations and medium-sized businesses.

April 5 2020 — 11:25

April 5 2020 — 11:06

Man arrested after filming himself breaking lockdown rules

A 23-year old man from Lyttelton, Centurion, has been arrested for allegedly contravening the 21-day Covid-19 lockdown regulations.

A week ago snippets of a video, in which two young men were seen travelling about Pretoria with one of them continuously swearing, mocking efforts to curb the virus and bragging that they are not complying with laws put in place to contain the virus, went viral.

April 5 2020 — 10:34

Liverpool blasted over coronavirus furlough, players in £200m wage cut warning

Liverpool were accused of betraying their “morals and values” on Saturday for their move to furlough non-playing staff during the coronavirus pandemic as Premier League stars warned of a £200 million shortfall in government coffers if 30 percent wage cuts were introduced.

Premier League leaders Liverpool said they would top up the public money made available from the government to ensure staff on temporary leave received their full salaries.

April 5 2020 — 10:21

Eastern Cape farmers, quarantined after trip to Germany, finally free to return to their homes

After being quarantined for two weeks at a lodge in Beacon Bay since their arrival last month from Germany, a group of farmers and government officials were released to their homes on Saturday.

April 5 2020 — 9:51

Fiji rugby players arrested for breaching coronavirus isolation

Two Fiji rugby players have been arrested for ignoring the Pacific nation's coronavirus self-isolation rules, with local authorities saying their “irresponsible behaviour” would be reported to rugby's world governing body World Rugby.

The two men have not been publicly identified but the Fiji Rugby Union confirmed they were professionals and media reported them variously to be sevens players and internationals.

April 5 2020 — 9:37

Residents about the world take coronavirus surveillance into their own hands

A week after Malaysia ordered a partial lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus, construction supervisor Hafi Nazhan saw residents in his affluent Kuala Lumpur neighbourhood jogging outside.

He took photos of people flouting the stay-at-home order and published them on Twitter, receiving hundreds of shares. Hafi's followers informed the police, who subsequently arrested 11 joggers in his neighbourhood.

April 5 2020 — 9:08

April 5 2020 — 8:57

Soweto suburbs are worlds apart as life changes under lockdown

You could hear a pin drop on the streets of the affluent Phase 3 in Soweto's Diepkloof Extension this week as residents stayed holed up comfortably behind their walls.

Barely a kilometre away, in Diepkloof's Zone 6, the situation was very different. Sizakele Vilakazi, 57, who shares a modest home with her four daughters and 10 grandchildren, said that with no yard to play in, the kids end up playing in the streets with other children who also have no other form of entertainment at home.

April 5 2020 — 8:54

April 5 2020 — 8:37

Taxi bosses to go it alone after no joy with Fikile Mbalula

The taxi industry has moved to set up its own emergency fund to cushion its members against the economic effects of the national lockdown. This follows a deadlock in meetings over funding relief with transport minister Fikile Mbalula.

Sources in the South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) said this week that at least R3.5bn is needed to ensure the survival of their industry as the lockdown ravages the economy.

April 5 2020 — 8:18

April 5 2020 — 8:01

Oskido's son out of self-isolation after returning from Spain

Veteran DJ and music mogul Oskido is breathing a sigh of relief after his son has come out of a 14-day period of self-isolation healthy and with no signs of Covid-19.

The star's son, who studies and plays soccer in Spain, returned home last month as the deadly virus spread across Europe.

April 5 2020 — 7:43

Trump doubles down on his support for anti-malaria drug to treat coronavirus

President Donald Trump on Saturday doubled down on his support for a drug that is still being tested to treat the coronavirus, saying he might take the medicine himself and encouraging others with doctor approval to do the same.

At his daily press briefing, Trump also chided some states for requesting more ventilators from the federal government than he said they needed.

April 5 2020 — 7:22

China sees rise in new coronavirus cases

Mainland China reported 30 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, up from 19 a day earlier as the number of cases involving travellers from abroad as well as local transmissions increased, highlighting the difficulty in stamping out the outbreak.

The National Health Commission said in a statement on Sunday that 25 of the latest cases involved people who had entered from abroad, compared with 18 such cases a day earlier. Five new locally transmitted infections were also reported on Saturday, all in the southern coastal province of Guangdong, up from a day earlier.

April 5 2020 — 7:13

Experts warn about false picture of Covid-19 crisis in SA

Brace yourselves, SA.

Halfway through a 21-day lockdown, the country is fixated on daily new infection levels as it prepares for a possible Covid-19 spike that many fear could overwhelm the country's health services.

House-to-house screening and testing kicked off yesterday with a pilot programme involving more than 200 households in Umlazi, Durban, but health experts warned about SA's slow start to testing and a shortage of key protective equipment.

April 5 2020 — 7:10

High-density areas in four provinces eyed for Covid relocations

Several provinces have begun identifying densely populated areas for the relocation of tens of thousands of residents from their homes in a bid to slow the spread of Covid-19.

But as the coronavirus that causes the disease begins to surface in townships — with infections in Alexandra, KwaMashu, Khayelitsha and Umlazi — two experts have warned against the government's plan, which was announced last month by minister of human settlements, water & sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu.

April 5 2020 — 7:05

Soldiers 'forced' to patrol streets during lockdown in 'unsafe gear'

Soldiers helping to enforce the lockdown have been put at risk by sanitisers and face masks that don't meet safety standards.

Sources in the defence force and the department of defence said the poor quality of such equipment had led to anxiety among the soldiers, whose health was at risk.

April 5 2020 — 7:00

SA's confirmed Covid-19 cases up 80

SA's health minister Zweli Mkhize announced in a statement released on Saturday night that the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country had risen to 1,585.

This is an increase of 80 from the previously reported cases.

The minister revealed that SA now has a total of 9 confirmed deaths associated with Covid-19.