COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES | Cape Town police station member tests positive for Covid-19

April 26 2020 - 19:23

Wear your mask the right way

April 26 2020 - 18:23

Cape Town police station member tests positive for Covid-19

A member of the Cape Town central police station has tested positive for coronavirus.

"It has unfortunately been discovered this morning that one of our members tested positive for Covid-19. He found out at work this morning and unfortunately other members have been in contact with him prior to the discovery. The members exposed have undergone testing and awaiting results whilst in quarantine."

April 26 2020 - 17:55

Almost a quarter of people polled have no money for food under lockdown

Just under a quarter of people polled in a survey by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) on the impact and awareness of the coronavirus said they have no money for food.

The survey was conducted in two waves, firstly from March 27-31 looking at awareness levels and knowledge about the virus and the second from April 9-16 April looked primarily at the impact of the lockdown on South Africa.

It was conducted on the #datafree Moya Messaging social media platform and reached 19,330 respondents,  including all race groups aged 18 and older, and healthcare workers. 

April 26 2020 - 17:25

More than 2 million people screened for virus in Limpopo

Limpopo's health department said on Sunday that more than 2.7 million people had been screened for Covid-19 in the province.

The screening was done between April 14 and 24, provincial health MEC Phophi Ramathuba said in a statement.

“Following the launch of the provincial mass household screening programme by premier Chupu Mathabatha on the 14th of April 2020, we immediately deployed 9,856 community health care workers to carry out this task. By Friday, 24 April 2020 [they] had managed to visit 801,019 households. In the process, they also screened 2,781,765 people,” said Ramathuba.

April 26 2020 - 17:13

Tests after death confirm ailing man in Limpopo had Covid-19

Limpopo's health department said tests have confirmed that a man who died at a private medical practice was Covid-19 positive but did not appear to have known he had the virus.

“Unfortunately he has demised and was diagnosed through post-mortem results,” the department said in a statement on Sunday.

The province has 30 Covid-19 infections but this one, which ended in death, was the first to be recorded in the Sekhukhune region.

April 26 2020 - 15:40

WATCH | Mom-to-be in lockdown gets surprise 'drive-by' baby shower

While family and friends are forced to be apart and special celebrations are put on hold a mother-to-be was overjoyed to be given a surprise “drive-by” baby shower in East London.

After seeing something similar done in the US, Dinika Rooy's loved ones hosted the “drive-by and drop off” baby shower for the mom-to-be at Buffalo Flats.

April 26 2020 - 15:32

65 in hospital in Gauteng due to coronavirus

The Gauteng health department said on Sunday that of the 1,304 Covid-19 cases in the province, 65 people were receiving treatment in hospital.

They were admitted to public and private hospitals.

The department provided an update on cases, confirming that eight people had died of the virus in Gauteng.

April 26 2020 - 15:21

WATCH LIVE | Blade Nzimande releases HSRC report on impact of Covid-19 on South Africans

Higher education and training minister Blade Nzimande will on Sunday release the outcomes of the second part of a research report by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) on the impact of the coronavirus on South Africans.

April 26 2020 - 14:51

SA seeking $5 bln from multilateral lenders to fight Covid-19 -Treasury DG

South Africa is seeking R95-bln from multilateral lenders to help it fight the Covid-19 pandemic, a senior Treasury official said on Sunday.

Africa's most advanced economy is talking to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, New Development Bank of the BRICS and African Development Bank to source funding to contribute to a R500-bln rescue package aimed at cushioning the impact of the new coronavirus on businesses and poor households.

Dondo Mogajane, director general of the National Treasury said: "The World Bank has said ...South Africa can access a loan of about $50 million, the New Development Bank did say long ago that they have set aside a billion dollars that we can access and again we will be accessing that." 

April 26 2020 - 14:50

East London mom fighting both Covid-19 and stage 4 cancer

East London mom Cheree Mc Ewen has fought stage 4 cancer for the past six years. She moved to the city from Komani last year to be closer to hospitals and to help grow her business in order to help her to pay for expensive cancer treatments.

Mc Ewen is a beauty therapist who offers specialised treatments.

To help raise cancer awareness, Mc Ewen has chronicled her fight against the disease on social media, taking followers through each step of her journey; in and out of specialists’ offices and hospital wards.

April 26 2020 - 14:13

Cele 'urgently' probes prejudice remarks by police who arrested Muslim worshipers

Police minister Bheki Cele has issued out an apology to the Muslim community after members of SAPS who arrested worshipers for flouting lockdown regulations in Masibekela in the Mbuzini area in Mpumalanga.

A video making its rounds on social media shows the SAPS members using blasphemous and prejudice remarks during the arrest.

"Minister Cele wishes to emphasise that police have a constitutional obligation to enforce the laws of the country, a duty to be executed within the confines of the same laws, applied with no prejudice against any gender, race or creed."

April 26 2020 - 11:12

Alleluia Ministries International has donated 1,000 groceries parcels to families in Soweto

The donation, according to spokesperson Busi Gaca, was part of the church foundation's ongoing community outreach programme.

“We started this way before lockdown, but the effort has been intensified because of the great need during lockdown. This is something we do as a church every single time,” Gaca said.

She said when leaders of the church saw a need for food in communities like Soweto, they decided to contribute by donating basic necessities.

April 26 2020 - 10:45

Muslims arrested for praying under lockdown

Minister Bheki Cele warned on Sunday that police had “no choice but to enforce the law” if the lockdown regulations were flouted for religious gatherings.

He was speaking after the arrest of 17 people during a Muslim prayer gathering in Pretoria.

The incident on Friday was captured on video and has since gone viral on social media.

The clip showed police walking into what appeared to be a mosque where shoes had been left outside.

April 26 2020 - 10:25

Taxis sneak between Gauteng and Limpopo

Travelling between provinces has not stopped despite it being banned under the lockdown.

Gauteng community safety MEC Faith Mazibuko discovered how people were sneaking across provincial borders this week.

April 26 2020 08:44

Cuba sends doctors to South Africa to combat coronavirus

Cuba sent 216 healthcare workers to South Africa on Saturday, the latest of more than 20 medical brigades it has sent worldwide to combat the coronavirus pandemic, in what some call socialist solidarity and others medical diplomacy.

April 26 2020 - 00:05

Auditor-general has team ready to inspect how money is spent

Some municipalities want part of the R20bn Covid-19 relief fund to help them deliver basic services.

Midvaal mayor Bongani Baloyi said municipalities had lost millions in revenue in the economic shutdown. He feared they might not be able to provide services if the national lockdown continues.

Meanwhile, the auditor-general, Kimi Makwetu, has offered to send a team of experts to help government departments and municipalities prevent theft from the overall R500bn emergency Covid budget.

The R20bn will be allocated to municipalities to help them deliver water tanks, personal protective equipment, sanitisers for public transport and other elements to help contain the spread of the virus.

But Baloyi said that if some of the money was not provided to municipalities for their operations, "very few municipalities will be standing by the time we get to December".

April 26 2020 - 00:05

Masks on in public and everyone under curfew

The economy was the biggest winner in the government's relaxed Covid-19 regulations announced yesterday, as more than 1.5-million workers are expected to return to their jobs next week under the level four lockdown that begins on Friday.

The government appears to have heeded appeals from business to open the economy after 30 days of lockdown, with most sectors expected to open their doors for the first time since the national lockdown was implemented on March 27.

April 25 2020 20:13

Covid-19 death toll now 86 in SA with 4,361 positive infections

Seven more people have succumbed to Covid-19 bringing the death toll to 86 in South Africa.

The health ministry said on Saturday evening that the latest deaths included four in the Eastern Cape, two in the Western Cape and one in Limpopo.

The total number of infections in the country now stands at 4,361.

The provincial breakdown of Covid-19 positive cases as of Saturday evening was: Gauteng (1,304), Western Cape (1,514), KwaZulu-Natal (847), Eastern Cape (488), Free State (111), Limpopo (30), North West (28), Mpumalanga (23), Northern Cape (16). 

There were no unallocated cases.