COVID-19 WRAP | 3 soldiers test positive, IFP donates R500,000 to fight virus, 446 confirmed cases in Joburg

April 11 2020 - 16:13

IFP to donate R500,000 to Solidarity Fund

The IFP will contribute R500,000 to the Solidarity Fund set up to help citizens and businesses during the fight against Covid-19.

“The lockdown, while being a necessary intervention in a time of crisis, has adversely affected SA’s already struggling economy.

“The road to recovery will most definitely be a difficult one which will require patriotic co-operation, collaborative action and policy certainty,” IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa explained.

April 11 2020 - 16:13

Nehawu's PPE application dismissed with costs

Labour court judge Benita Witcher, in a scathing judgment against Nehawu in a case over protective gear for health workers, says the public sector union could not point to a legal norm that was breached.

“In the main, the applicant claims that the minister has failed to ensure that health workers are provided with PPE (personal protective equipment), has failed to issue guidelines for the use of PPE and has failed to meaningfully engage the applicant about these issues.”

She acknowledged that all health workers in the front line of the fight against Covid-19 are entitled to PPE so that they are not exposed to avoidable risks.

April 11 2020 - 14:26

Three soldiers test positive for Covid-19, 15 awaiting results

Three members of the defence force have tested positive for the coronavirus.

This comes as hundreds of soldiers continue to enforce lockdown compliance across the country in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.

In a message posted on the SANDF official Facebook page on Saturday, Surgeon General of the SANDF Lt-Gen Zola Dabula said the army would take deliberate measures to curb the spread.

April 11 2020 - 12:03

OPINION: Using Covid-19 to score political points is shameful

As the last remaining major metro run by the DA, it is no surprise that the City of Cape Town has become the epicentre for opportunistic attacks.

The latest example is the Strandfontein emergency accommodation site for the homeless of Cape Town.

Woefully misguided claims like the totally untrue assertion that the site is a “concentration camp” have bounced back and forth through the media and social media landscape.

April 11 2020 - 11:45

Eastern Cape villagers arrested over lockdown church service

Eastern Cape churchgoers who held an Easter church service were arrested for breaching lockdown regulations at Khasa village in Elliotdale on Friday.

A video of the arrests was widely circulated on social media, with many users blasting the congregation for failing to obey the rules and putting lives at risk. Those arrested, who were described as being members of the Zion Christian Church, could be heard singing while they entered the local police station with officers keeping watch.

April 11 2020 - 10:25

10 in ICU as Covid-19 cases top 800 in Gauteng

Johannesburg has more than half of the Covid-19 cases confirmed in Gauteng.

This was revealed by the provincial department of health on Saturday morning.

In a statement, the department said Gauteng has recorded 801 cases since the outbreak was confirmed in the country in March.

April 11 2020 - 9:30

African community 'targeted' in China virus crackdown

Africans in southern China's largest city say they have become targets of suspicion and subjected to forced evictions, arbitrary quarantines and mass coronavirus testing as the country steps up its fight against imported infections.

China says it has largely curbed its COVID-19 outbreak but a recent cluster of cases linked to the Nigerian community in Guangzhou sparked the alleged discrimination by locals and virus prevention officials.

Local authorities in the industrial centre of 15 million said at least eight people diagnosed with the illness had spent time in the city's Yuexiu district, known as "Little Africa".

-AFP