COVID-19 WRAP | Ramaphosa consults faith leaders to discuss level 3 | SA Covid-19 cases edging closer to 20,000

May 20 2020 - 21:30

Ramaphosa consults faith leaders to discuss government's preparedness to reopen SA

May 20 2020 - 21:26

SA journalist flees to Lesotho after police beatings while on duty: Sanef

The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) has expressed concern at the ill treatment of a journalist who was allegedly assaulted by police and has had to flee the country.

Sanef said the incident occurred on Friday near Lesotho, where Paul Nthoba was covering the visibility of police officers enforcing lockdown regulations.

“He was physically abused and beaten up in the township of Meqheleng, close to the Lesotho border. Following this traumatic incident, Nthoba went to the Ficksburg police station to lay a charge, but instead of being assisted by the police, he faced further abuse,” said Sanef.

May 20 2020 - 21:20

Two-day-old baby dies from Covid-19 as SA cases climb past 18,000

A two-day-old baby has become South Africa's first neonatal Covid-19 fatality, health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Wednesday night.

Mkhize said that the child was one of 27 new Covid-19 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours. The country's death toll now stands at 339, and the number of confirmed cases has climbed to 18,003.

"Sadly we have recorded the first neonatal mortality related to Covid-19. This was a two-day-old baby that was born prematurely and therefore had lung difficulties, which required ventilation support immediately after birth," said Mkhize.

May 20 2020 - 19:17

Gauteng hospital takes action against striking staff who left patients stranded

Services at Sterkfontein hospital in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg, have returned to normal following an illegal strike by staff members who left patients stranded on Tuesday.

Patients were unable to take their medication, bath or have their breakfast on time as a result of the strike, said health department spokesperson Kwara Kekana. 

“The illegal strike disrupted hospital services and ignored the current lockdown rules, which prohibit public gatherings. The service disruption affected various areas of the facility, including the usual multidisciplinary team’s morning visits to patients, which could not be undertaken as employees were locked outside the facility,” she said. 

It was only after police intervention that the crowds dispersed and other hospital staff could gain access to blocked entry points.

May 20 2020 - 19:15

IRR threatens to join civil society in legal fight against lockown rules

The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) says it will consider joining civil society in their legal fight against the manner in which the government has been enforcing the lockdown.

The institute said it would also write to the presidency to warn it about strong and valid legal arguments concerning the lockdown enforcement.

Hermann Pretorius, the IRR's deputy head of policy research, said they would consider joining as a litigant or as an amicus curiae (friend of the court) in any action by civil society that advances the cause of liberty.

May 20 2020 - 17:59

How photographer captured baby image amid coronavirus lockdown

For Reuters photographer Hannah McKay, a recent trip to take pictures at a hospital in northern England required the kind of planning more typical of a foreign assignment.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought huge changes to the way journalists work the world over, with safety a priority, access organised long in advance, travel kept to a minimum and hotels and public transport largely out of bounds.

So when London-based McKay had the opportunity to travel north to cover medical workers in the cities of Blackburn and Burnley, careful planning was essential.

She divided the six-hour journey into two parts, sleeping in a tent in her parents' garden in Coventry before setting off the next morning.

May 20 2020 - 17:42

Popular University of the Western Cape staff member dies of Covid-19

Staff at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) are reeling after campus IT technician Mogamat Salie succumbed to Covid-19 on Monday.

Salie was described by his colleagues as a “champion for the underdog” who would place himself in difficult situations to “stand up for those who were not always able to fight for themselves”.

The veteran staff member had been working at UWC since 1997. 

May 20 2020 - 17:29

Brazil widens use of malaria drugs to treat mild coronavirus cases

Brazil's health ministry on Wednesday issued new guidelines for wider use of anti-malarial drugs for mild coronavirus cases, a treatment touted by President Jair Bolsonaro in defiance of public health experts warning of possible health risks.

Interim health minister Eduardo Pazuello, an active duty army general, authorised the new guidelines after two trained doctors left the ministry's top job under pressure to promote early use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine.

Medical experts warn that studies have not confirmed the effectiveness of the drugs in treating the novel coronavirus, including Marcos Espinal, director for communicable diseases at the Pan American Health Organization.

"Our recommendations are crystal clear that they should not be used yet and in fact studies are suggesting a higher rate of secondary effects and cardiological problems in people who use it," Espinal told journalists in a Tuesday briefing.

Bolsonaro has pushed the drugs' potential along with his ideological ally US President Donald Trump, who said this week he was taking hydroxychloroquine preventively despite a warning from the US Food and Drug Administration.

- Reuters

May 20 2020 - 17:11

Gauteng's Covid-19 death toll at 27 with almost 1,700 recoveries

Gauteng has recorded 18 new Covid-19 infections and one death in the past 24 hours. 

This is according to the provincial department of health, which said the total number of confirmed cases was now at 2,361 with 1,694 recoveries and 27 deaths on Wednesday. 

May 20 2020 - 16:44

This is how shrinking income during lockdown is affecting South Africans

A quarter of participants in a new survey by Stats SA have seen their incomes reduced during the nationwide lockdown, which is now into its eighth week.

For those who lost income, roughly half said it was because they either had to close their business down or the company they worked for had to shut due to the lockdown.

The data, released on Wednesday, is from the second wave of a survey on the effect of Covid-19 on employment and income of South Africans, and gives some insight into the financial hit households have taken through the lockdown.

May 20 2020 - 16:38

Phased approach for professional sports to return - but minister mum on details

Sports, arts and culture minister Nathi Mthethwa has confirmed that the government is considering a plan for a phased-in return of professional sports.

Mthethwa on Wednesday told a joint parliamentary portfolio committee of sports, arts and culture about the discussions on the plan. The phased-in approach will begin with non-contact sports.

“I have been engaged with the leadership of the sporting fraternity from different sporting codes over the last two weeks. We have developed, as the department, a framework of reopening sport, and that framework talks about reopening both non-contact and contact sport,” said Mthethwa.

May 20 2020 - 16:32

Monkeys infected with Covid-19 develop immunity in studies, a positive sign for vaccines

Two studies in monkeys published on Wednesday offer some of the first scientific evidence that surviving Covid-19 may result in immunity from reinfection, a positive sign that vaccines under development may succeed, US researchers said on Wednesday.

Although scientists have assumed that antibodies produced in response to the new coronavirus virus are protective, there has been scant scientifically rigorous evidence to back that up.

In one of the new studies, researchers infected nine monkeys with Covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. After they recovered, the team exposed them to the virus again and the animals did not get sick.

May 20 2020 - 16:29

Russia says outbreak stabilising as more leave hospital than test positive

Russia recorded its lowest total of new coronavirus cases since May 1 on Wednesday, with more patients discharged from hospital than new cases for the first time, which officials said showed that the outbreak was stabilising at last.

Russia now has the second most cases of the novel coronavirus in the world, behind only the US. Wednesday's tally of 8,764 new cases brought the official count above 300,000.

With 135 new deaths recorded, the nationwide toll is still below 3,000, much lower than in many European countries hit earlier in the pandemic. But the surge in infections and blow to the economy are among the biggest challenges of President Vladimir Putin's two decades in power.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who returned to work this week after himself recovering from the virus, said the news that more patients had left hospital than tested positive showed "the situation is gradually stabilising, especially in Moscow".

"This is good news, and perhaps we have begun to pass the highest point of the burden on the health-care system."

- Reuters

May 20 2020 - 16:23

Players are being treated like lab rats, says Newcastle's Danny Rose

Newcastle United defender Danny Rose has said Premier League players are being treated like "lab rats" after teams were given permission to return to training in small groups this week.

The England international, who is on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, has been a vocal critic of the league's plans to restart the season, which has been suspended since mid-March due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

The league said on Tuesday that six people from three different clubs had tested positive for Covid-19 out of a sample of 748 individuals.

"People are suggesting we should go back to football, like we're guinea pigs or lab rats. We're going to experiment this phase and see if it works or not," Rose said on the Lockdown Tactics podcast. "I can just imagine people at home saying, 'Well they earn that amount of money so they should be going back.'

"For stuff like that I think is it worth the hassle? I could be potentially risking my health for people's entertainment and that's not something I want to be involved in if I'm honest."

Watford have confirmed that three people from the club, including one player, have tested positive for Covid-19, while Burnley said their assistant coach Ian Woan was among those to return a positive result after being tested on Sunday.

Watford skipper Troy Deeney has said he will not resume training out of concern for his son's health.

- Reuters

May 20 2020 - 16:11

Government told not to 'misuse' data from new Covid-19 grant recipients

The protection of personal information of the vulnerable people who have applied for - and been approved for - the special Covid-19 social relief of distress grant should be paramount.

Hoodah Abrahams-Fayker, national advocacy manager at the Black Sash, said on Wednesday that there must be heightened vigilance against the possibility of any misuse of the personal information of grant applicants and beneficiaries.

"If personal information is compromised, it can be used to steal grant money or make unauthorised or unlawful deductions from social grants. This simply cannot be allowed to happen," Abrahams-Fayker said.

May 20 2020 - 15:54

More than 100 infections and 15 patient deaths in Covid-19 outbreak at St Augustine's Hospital

The Covid-19 outbreak at St Augustine's Hospital in Durban which forced health authorities to close it down, resulted in 119 people testing positive and 15 patient deaths.

The outbreak is thought to have been sparked through transmission from a patient being assessed for the virus in the emergency department, to another patient being admitted at the same time with a suspected stroke.

May 20 2020 - 15:32

SAA gets R3.8bn, Eskom R33bn as Covid-19 ups SOEs' financial woes

The government has allocated R3.8bn to troubled national airline SAA to run its operations in the current financial year ending in March 2021. The similarly financially ruined Eskom will get R33bn for the same period.

This emerged during the meeting of parliament's public enterprises oversight committees on Wednesday, as the department's acting director-general Kgathatso Tlhakudi presented its strategic and annual performance plans.

May 20 2020 - 15:20

ANC gives thumbs up to schools reopening

The governing party has again congratulated its own government for the decision to reopen schools for grade 7 and 12 pupils on June 1.

This after ANC deployee, basic education minister Angie Motshekga, announced the decision on Tuesday night.

May 20 2020 - 14:54

SA is on stage five out of eight in dealing with Covid-19, says Mkhize

SA is now in stage five of an eight-stage programme to manage  the Covid-19 pandemic, health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Tuesday.

Stage 5 deals with surveillance to identify and intervene in hotspots, spatial monitoring of new cases and investigation of outbreaks.

As at Tuesday evening, SA had registered 17,200 cases of Covid-19 and recorded 312 deaths, with 7,960 recoveries.

May 20 2020 - 14:46

Prisoner rights organisation calls for release of 24,000 more inmates

The South African Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights (Sapohr) is demanding that the government release 43,000 prisoners to combat the spread of Covid-19 in jails.

Earlier this month it was announced that as many as 19,000 inmates who committed “petty” crimes could be released on parole provided they met certain conditions.

May 20 2020 - 14:40

Western Cape's Covid-19 toll a taste of things to come for all SA, says Abdool Karim

All eyes are on the Western Cape as the epicentre of Covid-19, with the province accounting for 211 of SA's 312 fatalities.

But Prof Salim Abdool Karim said on Wednesday it was probably just a matter of time before the rest of the country saw the same pattern. He said the Western Cape was providing an “early indication” of how the pandemic played out, and this included “a much higher number of cases in the hospitals”.

May 20 2020 - 14:28

‘Will poorer state schools have protective measures in place?’

Some parents and school governing body representatives are anxious about protective measures being in place in all areas, after basic education minister Angie Motshekga’s announcement on the resumption of classes for grades 7 and 12 from June 1.

Teachers are expected to return on May 25, to prepare for the class intakes.

May 20 2020 - 14:16

Restaurant industry reeling as operators run at a loss despite deliveries being allowed

The Covid-19 pandemic could put a final nail in the coffin for the traditional sit-down restaurant business model in SA, say industry members.

Wendy Alberts, CEO of the Restaurants Association of SA (Rasa), said the extended lockdown has been detrimental to business - and that them being allowed to operate delivery services had not eased the pressure.

May 20 2020 - 13:57

'It's astronomical': How much Joburg smokers pay to get their illegal fix

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. This has certainly proven to be true during the nationwide lockdown and its accompanying ban on the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products. Many smokers have continued to smoke and entrepreneurs have found a way of unlawfully supplying them with their nicotine fix.

There are two types of cigarettes now being sold on the black market: the branded cigarettes most people bought legally before lockdown, which contributed to the sin tax smokers pay, and some questionable, cheaper cigarettes — most likely illicit products.

May 20 2020 - 13:53

KZN prepares for deployment of 28 Cuban doctors in Covid-19 fight

At least 28 Cuban doctors are readying themselves to be deployed to KwaZulu-Natal this week.

The provincial department of health, together with the premier's office, will officially welcome the Cuban health experts on Thursday during a briefing in Pietermaritzburg, the province's capital.

KwaZulu-Natal has the fourth-highest number of Covid-19 infections in the country, after the Western Cape, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.

May 20 2020 - 13:45

School principals and cleaners back at work as Western Cape aims for June 1

Nearly every school principal and cleaner in the Western Cape has returned to work to prepare for the arrival of pupils from June 1.

After basic education minister Angie Motshekga's announcement on Tuesday about the gradual reopening of schools, education MEC Debbie Schäfer said preparations in the Western Cape were progressing well amid understandable anxiety.

20 May 2020 - 13:15

Mmusi Maimane launches petition against 'gambling with children’s lives'

Former DA leader Mmusi Maimane has launched a petition to keep schools shut after basic education minister Angie Motshekga’s announcement that schools across the country would reopen in June.

Motshekga announced on Tuesday evening that schools would reopen for grade 7 and 12 pupils on June 1.

20 May 2020 - 13:10

'To hell with government keeping us indoors like kids' - Mbhazima Shilowa on lockdown

Former Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa is the latest to weigh in on the level 4 lockdown restrictions, calling for an end to what he calls a “dictatorship”.

On Tuesday, Shilowa joined a number of politicians in criticising the rationality of the lockdown under the Disaster Management Act.

20 May 2020 - 13:09

SA ports permitting cruise liners to dock only for essentials or repatriation

Despite a ban on passenger liner operations, SA's ports are continuing to receive urgent requests from international cruise vessels to dock for fuel, supplies or the repatriation of local crew.

Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) told TimesLIVE it has been considering requests from passenger liners “case by case”.

“None of the cruise liners currently calling have any passengers on board,” said Capt Sabelo Mdlalose, TNPA's acting chief harbour master. “The banning of passenger liner operations at a number of ports globally, including South Africa, because of Covid-19, has left the cruise industry in limbo. 

20 May 2020 - 12:20

How and why Western Cape should move to lockdown level 3 - Alan Winde

Western Cape premier Alan Winde is adamant that the province is ready to move to level 3 lockdown despite it accounting for almost 60% of the cases in SA.

The province, by Tuesday, had 10,639 confirmed cases with 187 deaths. Most of the country's infections and deaths have been in Cape Town.

20 May 2020 - 11:57

Five critical points from David Makhura on Covid-19: 'We are ready for the worst'

Gauteng premier David Makhura on Tuesday spoke at the provincial virtual legislature sitting about the impact of Covid-19.

He detailed issues including the progress made in flattening the infection curve and the decision to move to lockdown level 3 in June.

20 May 2020 - 11:48

NUM calls for Limpopo mine closures but Implats says there is no Covid-19 outbreak

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in northeast Limpopo has called for a temporary closure of all the mines in the province with workers remaining on 100% pay.

It said two big mines in the province had registered a combined 49 Covid-19 cases in one week.

The first mine to have reported cases of Covid-19 was Marula Platinum Mine, with 19 confirmed cases last week.

20 May 2020 - 11:36

Government punishing us for its own failures, says woman who started petition against tobacco ban

Bev Maclean, who started an online petition against the ban on the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products, has written an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa expressing the frustration she says is felt by many. 

The petition was started when smokers were given one day’s notice of the ban before the lockdown started on March 27, and has since been signed by more than 529,000 people.

20 May 2020 - 11:13

Free State premier recommends Bloemfontein stays on level 4 as other parts of province go to level 3

The Free State should move to lockdown level 3, except for the capital city, Bloemfontein, Free State premier Sisi Ntombela recommended on Tuesday.

Spokesperson for the provincial government Setjhaba Maphalla said on Wednesday that Ntombela and the provincial command council were continuing discussions with the national command council on the appropriate alert level for Mangaung (Bloemfontein).

20 May 2020 - 11:05

President Cyril Ramaphosa consulting political parties on Covid-19 lockdown

President Cyril Ramaphosa is meeting on Wednesday morning — day 55 of the lockdown and day 20 of stage 4 — with leaders of political parties represented in parliament to discuss the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Also under discussions will be “matters related to the national lockdown”, his office said in a statement.

20 May 2020 - 10:58

Mixed feelings for Durban business owners in the heart of the city during lockdown

As lockdown measures are intensified in Durban, the daily grind continues for the city's shop owners and vendors.  

Considered a “hotspot” for Covid-19, the eThekwini metropolitan municipality says several  measures have been put in place to protect the city's inhabitants.

20 May 2020 - 10:47

20 May 2020 - 10:16

Covid-19 deaths rocket over the age of 50, Western Cape stats show

Covid-19 is attacking the young but killing the old, according to statistics from the Western Cape.

The province that has confirmed more than 61% of SA's cases of the virus says more than half were people aged 21-40.

But more than half of the 183 Covid-19 deaths in the Western Cape have been in the 51-70 age group.

20 May 2020 - 9:53

Concerns on reopening of schools dominate social media - 'it's not yet safe'

Parents and guardians are flooding Twitter to express concerns about the reopening of schools, after basic education minister Angie Motshekga's announcement on Tuesday.

Motshekga said schools would reopen in a staggered fashion, with pupils in grade 7 and grade 12 returning to school on June 1.

20 May 2020 - 9:48

HIV paved way for Covid-19 vaccine development

Covid-19, which continues to claim lives around the globe, has taken the world by surprise just as HIV did in the late 1980s.

But HIV experts say that while both diseases have no vaccine to date, the contribution of HIV vaccine research and the knowledge built over the past 40 years cannot be understated and has helped accelerate the development of Covid-19 vaccine candidates.

20 May 2020 - 9:12

IN QUOTES | Angie Motshekga on back to school, Covid-19 plan and training for educators

Basic education minister Angie Motshekga on Tuesday gave an update on preparations for the reopening of schools on June 1.

Schools will open for grades 7 and 12, as well as some “smaller schools” (not more than 125 pupils). Other grades will return in a phased approach.

20 May 2020 - 9:10

50 days in lockdown then 30 days out could be SA's golden cycle

An 18-month cycle of 50 days of strict lockdown followed by 30 days of easing could peg SA's Covid-19 fatalities to just over 9,000 and allow the health system to cope, says an international team of researchers.

SA was one of 16 countries in which three scenarios were modelled by the Global Dynamic Interventions Strategies for Covid-19 Collaborative Group, led by University of Cambridge global health epidemiologist Rajiv Chowdhury.

20 May 2020 - 9:00

OPINION | SA needs to rebuild the economy and rescue failing businesses now

While everyone in SA appreciates regular updates on the crisis from our head of state, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent address to the nation was sadly vague and uncertain, without any clear sense of how SA will protect its fragile economy.

Reading between the lines, the one aspect that did become extremely clear during his address is the pace at which government believes we should proceed.

The astounding lack of urgency around salvaging our economy is cause for considerable alarm, if not flat out panic.

One of the most critical factors for the success of a country’s response to this pandemic is trust.

20 May 2020 - 8:47

OPINION | People will remember who they could trust during this time

I have always had a healthy respect for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Whether they started their businesses out of a dire need for employment or had a vision and just went for it and created a livelihood for themselves, I think it is very brave, and their hard work and perseverance deserves admiration.

We find ourselves in unprecedented times. Apart from the social impairments we are experiencing by not being able to have contact with our family and friends, our working lives also had to adjust drastically to adopt to specifications in order to flatten the curve.

For small businesses, this lockdown and the subsequent restrictions placed on businesses have a monumental impact. However, entrepreneurs are known for their determination, perseverance, creativity and tenacity. These traits are exactly what is needed in times like these.

20 May 2020 - 8:30

Schools reopen in South Korea as virus fears ease

Hundreds of thousands of South Korean students returned to school on Wednesday as educational establishments started reopening after a coronavirus delay of more than two months.

Students lined up for temperature checks and were given sanitisers to wash their hands as they entered school premises while teachers greeted them with smiles and occasional elbow bumps.

- AFP

20 May 2020 - 7:00

'You can consider us as dead, whether by Covid-19 or hunger': how foreigners are hit hard

“I have reached the point where I am willing to risk it all if it means I can start working to help provide for my family who is heavily dependent on me.

“As a self-employed refugee, I already live hand to mouth. If we don’t work we won’t have anything to eat,” said Jeanne Butoyi, a permanent resident who has been living in SA for 22 years.

Originally from Burundi, Butoyi works as a hairdresser and lives with her husband and two children. She is surviving with help from family friends.

“Debt is piling up and even if the lockdown is lifted today, I don’t know how I am going to make up all the money I now owe,” said Butoyi.

20 May 2020 - 7:00

Grade 12 pupils are back in class - over the airwaves.

As SA grapples with the back-to-school problem, the good old traditional radio has saved the day in Limpopo.

20 May 2020 - 6:52

Eastern Cape prison records 34 new Covid-19 infections, taking number of cases in SA prisons to 654

“Results of inmates who were tested at SADA in the Eastern Cape recorded an increase of 34 positive cases. This is one of the areas receiving attention from the provincial department of health as Chris Hani District has been classified as one of the epicentres in the Eastern Cape,” said Nxumalo.

20 May 2020 - 6:39

40,000 could die in SA when Covid-19 storm peaks: experts

SA is likely to face a crisis due to a shortage of ICU beds when the Covid-19 storm lands wreaking havoc and claiming at least 40,000 lives.

A consortium of experts who have been providing the health department with scenarios that could unfold in the coming months made this revelation during a webinar with the media and health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize on Tuesday evening.

20 May 2020 - 6:00

Teachers blast Angie's school plan

The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa) said that June 1 “seems very optimistic at this stage, if our own research is correct”.

20 May 2020 - 6:00

Abnormal is the new normal for children in lockdown - 7 tips for parents

The mental health of our children should be given careful attention during these strange times, said Carol Surya, a psychologist who has authored books on positive parenting.

20 May 2020 - 5:55

Cape Town photographer raises nearly R500k to help feed the needy during lockdown

Cape Town photographer and videographer, Chad Nathan has raised nearly R500,000 to help feed hundreds of the city’s most vulnerable.

Re-opening of SA schools: 

Why reopen schools? Because school is good for children: Motshekga

The longer schools stay closed, the higher the risk that pupils might never go back.

This is according to basic education minister Angie Motshekga, who was answering the question “why reopen schools?” at a press briefing on Tuesday evening.

IN FULL | Motshekga's address on the reopening of schools, feeding schemes and learner transport

It's official: Schools will reopen on June 1 for matrics and grade 7s

South African schools will reopen on June 1 — starting with grade 12 and 7 pupils.

And when the doors are opened after a two-month hiatus due to the coronavirus lockdown in SA, pupils will return in a staggered fashion.