COVID-19 WRAP | Cases climb by more than 3,100 as SA passes million-test mark

June 11 2020 - 22:21

SA Muslims 'not able to embark' on Hajj pilgrimage due to Covid-19

With the country's borders still closed due to the Covid-19 lockdown, South Africans wishing to embark on the Hajj pilgrimage this year will not be allowed to do so.

This was the official word from the SA Hajj & Umrah Council (Sahuc) in a statement issued on Wednesday night.

The council said a meeting was held earlier on Wednesday with international relations minister Naledi Pandor.

June 11 2020 - 22:00

Covid-19 cases up by 3,100 and deaths by 74 as SA passes million-test mark

There are now 58,568 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in SA, health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Thursday.

This was an increase of 3,157 cases from the 55,421 announced on Wednesday night.

Mkhize also announced another milestone in the country's fight against Covid-19, with more than 1 million tests now having been done.

June 11 2020 - 21:23

Over 100 more prisoners test positive for Covid-19

The department of correctional services has recorded over 100 new Covid-19 cases in prisons in the past 24 hours.

The department has 1,425 confirmed Covid-19 cases to date, with 510 of those being officials and 915 inmates.

The 111 additional cases announced on Thursday were inmates from the Western Cape (58 cases) and the Eastern Cape (53 cases).

June 11 2020 - 20:54

Government considering opening cinemas during level 3

Minister of trade, industry and competition Ebrahim Patel has handed a lifeline to the cinema industry. In newly gazetted amendments to regulations, he says he is also mulling over the possibility of opening cinemas.

Amongst the amendments is the announcement that earlier directives on what kinds of clothing and bedding could be sold - which caused a controversy – have now lapsed, meaning that all types of items can now be sold.

Directives on workplace protocols at call centres and car repair centres, as well as regarding the sale of cars, have been withdrawn and replaced with directives issued by minister of employment and labour Thulas Nxesi last week.

June 11 2020 - 20:26

Only behaviour change can help us now, say experts

Only our own behavioural changes can save us now.

This was the clear message from experts in various health-related disciplines on Thursday, as the latest infection figures showed that there were now 58,568 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in SA - up by 3,147 a day earlier.

Speaking at a webinar hosted by the Wits Journal of Clinical Medicine on Thursday, experts highlighted that no epidemiological model can tell us what’s going to happen next, there is no “wonder drug” or vaccine at this stage, and neither the country nor the continent is in a position to be complacent.

June 11 2020 - 19:38

Eastern Cape must 'act with speed' to curb Covid-19 spread: Mkhize

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has called on the Eastern Cape to move with speed to make sure it has all necessary facilities and staff to deal with Covid-19.

After receiving an update report on the situation in the OR Tambo district, Mkhize said: “From the point of view of the report, I’m comfortable that you are moving on the right track. [You] just need to act with speed now.”

Mkhize said the infection rate in the Eastern Cape should serve as a huge warning of things to come.

June 11 2020 - 17:59

34,000 hospital beds occupied because of alcohol, says Bheki Cele

While SA battles the spread of Covid-19, police minister Bheki Cele says the unbanning of alcohol has put a strain on the health system - and industry claims that the economy would suffer if the ban continued are not scientific. 

Cele claimed that 34,000 hospital beds around the country "are currently occupied because of alcohol-related cases".

"Yes, it cannot be banned forever - but for now we should have not opened it [sales]," he said. "Alcohol revenue is R1.6bn, but it costs the government R38bn to provide medical services for alcohol cases, so that revenue does not help us."

June 11 2020 - 17:29

School year to run until December 15, with only 13 days off for holidays

The school year will officially come to a close on December 15, according to a government gazette published on Thursday.

The basic education department said in the document that there would also be just 13 days of school holidays between now and the end of the year, excluding public holidays.

According to the gazette, the new school terms are:

• term 1: Jan 15 – March 18;
• term 2: June 8 (postponed from June 1) – August 7;
• term 3: August 12 - September 23; and
• term 4: October 5 – December 15

June 11 2020 - 17:15

Covid-19 cases climb by more than 3,100 as SA passes 1-million test mark

There are now 58,568 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in SA, health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Thursday.

This was an increase of 3,157 cases from the 55,421 announced on Wednesday night.

Mkhize also announced another milestone in the country's fight against Covid-19, with more than 1-million tests now having been done.

June 11 2020 - 16:47

June 11 2020 - 16:21

Grey College boys exposed to Covid-19 allowed home after AfriForum intervenes

Pupils at Grey College in Bloemfontein who had been quarantined after one of them tested positive for Covid-19, have been released into the care of their parents.

This is according to AfriForum, which had written to the ministers of health, education and co-operative governance demanding that the pupils' rights to self-isolate be respected.

AfriForum said the parents of the pupils who were isolated were told that they would “be the property of the state” for the next 14 days and that the parents would not be allowed to visit them.

June 11 2020 - 15:59

Covid-19 forces closure of 20 schools in Buffalo City

Twenty schools in Buffalo City have been forced to close in the first week of the government's ambitious plan to return pupils to class.

As people affiliated to the schools test positive for the coronavirus, there is little option but to send the grade 7 and 12 pupils home.

An additional seven schools in the metro had people who were under investigation for the virus, but their results came back negative, allowing schooling to continue.  

June 11 2020 - 15:34

Cabinet looks at lightening level 3 lockdown regulations

The cabinet is looking at lightening Covid-19 level 3 regulations, which could see more sectors of the economy open up earlier than originally planned. 

The cabinet held a meeting on Wednesday at which it received an updated report from the national coronavirus command council (NCCC).

The council tabled a number of recommendations pertaining to moderating level 3 of the lockdown, the cabinet said in a statement. 

June 11 2020 - 14:27

'Just an itchy throat': Gauteng health spokesperson on Covid-19 isolation as cases rise to 7,195 in province

There were no obvious symptoms, just an itchy throat before Gauteng health department spokesperson Kwara Kekana discovered she had contracted Covid-19.

Kekana has been in isolation for a week after test results confirmed that she was positive on Friday.

“I was not exhibiting any symptoms, just an itchy throat for about 20 minutes,” she said.

“You touch everything with suspicion because you have Covid-19,” she added about her stint in isolation.

June 11 2020 - 13:28

'We've sent you doctors from Cuba, it is time for action, it is time for movement': Mkhize

June 11 2020 - 12:19

Parents shut 'unsafe' schools over lack of hygiene and sanitation

It was like a scene from a wrestling match as parents wrangled with a security guard for the keys to the gate during a protest about the lack of screening, sanitisers, soap and water at a school in Naas, near Komatipoort, in Mpumalanga.

Angry parents and residents yesterday shut down Mbazima Primary School, saying their children were at risk of contracting coronavirus as there were no proper handwashing basins, soap or water.

June 11 2020 - 12:18

POLL | Drunk driving, a spike in trauma and murder cases - should government ban alcohol?

Some South Africans have called for the alcohol ban to be reinstated after a deadly accident in Jozini, in the north of KwaZulu-Natal, which left at least eight people dead and 32 injured on Wednesday. 

A truck driver lost control of the vehicle, hitting pedestrians and cars on Wednesday. He attributed the accident to brake failure but investigations found that he “may have been driving under the influence of alcohol,” according to TimesLIVE. 

June 11 2020 - 12:17

Thuli Madonsela's virtual lockdown briefing rudely interrupted with porn

A webinar by former public protector Thuli Madonsela was interrupted by explicit adult content from an unknown participant on Thursday.

The Zoom meeting was meant to unpack the legality of the lockdown regulations in relation to the case brought by Reyno Dawid de Beer of the Liberty Fighters Network against co-operative governance & traditional affairs (Cogta) minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

June 11 2020 - 12:03

What government is going to be dealing in the Eastern Cape in the fight against Covid-19

June 11 2020 - 10:41

Mkhize touches down in the Eastern Cape

June 11 2020 - 09:30

Government strengthens efforts to increase Western Cape's quarantine and isolation capacity

June 11 2020 - 09:24

Zweli Mkhize off to the Eastern Cape to assess Covid-19 response 

Private hospital group complains about R16k government rate for Covid patients

At least one private hospital group has expressed concern over the sustainability of its business if the R16,000 critical care daily rate proposed by the government to care for critical Covid-19 patients is applied over an extended period.

The Life HealthCare group told parliament on Wednesday that the R16,156 per bed for state patients to be treated at private hospitals when there was no space at government hospitals was below the cost-to-recovery rate and was not sustainable.

Addressing MPs' questions during a joint meeting of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces' health oversight committees, the group's Matthew Prior said the figure was a blended rate across ICU and high care and was a daily rate.

June 11 2020 - 08:04

WATCH | Crossing the food border: handy South African app lets Zimbabweans send food home

Malaicha.com is an app created in April 2019 that allows people in SA to buy groceries for their relatives in Zimbabwe.

The idea for the app was inspired by Zimbabweans living and working in SA, who for decades have been paying bus and taxi drivers to deliver food to their relatives back home. The word malaicha is Ndebele slang for this traditional method of sending goods over the border.

This method is costly and unreliable - and has now become impossible with Covid-19 lockdowns in both countries. With cross-border movement restricted, the app has been a blessing for thousands of clients in SA and Zimbabwe.

June 11 2020 - 8:02

Billions lost due to lockdown travel ban, parliament told

The transport department has painted a grim picture of the state of the transport industry, which has seen state entities severely impacted by government’s hard lockdown.

Addressing parliament's transport portfolio committee on Wednesday evening, transport director-general Alec Moemi, told of how one of the hardest-hit companies, the Airports Company SA, had suffered a R11bn loss due to the prohibition on international and domestic air travel.

He said the department of transport had written to the National Treasury to get guarantees in order to raise funds.

June 11 2020 - 07:14

'Our workplace is like a jungle,' say staff at Tygerberg Hospital

Healthcare workers at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town say they are scared to go to work and feel more vulnerable to contracting the coronavirus at work than in their communities.

This is as Covid-19 cases at the hospital soar.

“Going to work feels like going to the jungle. You don’t know whether you will come back alive or not. In every unit, there are several staff that had been booked off due to Covid-19,” said a nurse who works at the hospital.