COVID-19 WRAP | Let our patrons drink, restaurant association pleads with government

June 25 2020 - 21:28

Another Covid-19 record as more than 6,500 cases recorded in 24 hours

Another Covid-19 record was broken on Thursday, as 6,580 new cases of the respiratory illness were reported in the past 24 hours.

This shattered the previous day's high of 5,688 cases. It means that there are now 118,375 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in SA.

It is also the first time that more than 40,000 tests were done in a single 24-hour period.

June 25 2020 - 19:18

Let our patrons drink, restaurant association pleads with government

The Restaurant Association of SA (Rasa) has written to cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, asking her to allow 70% capacity for patrons.

The association also asked the minister to allow alcohol to be sold and consumed on the premises.

The letter, written by Ashton Naidoo of Mooney Ford Attorneys, acknowledges the government's "efforts" in reopening restaurants but calls for more leeway.

June 25 2020 - 18:11

Parliament is still in charge, not Covid-19 command council: Mabuza

The national coronavirus command council (NCCC) has not stripped parliament of its powers to hold ministers managing the Covid-19 crisis accountable.

This is according to Deputy President David Mabuza, who on Thursday appeared in parliament for a question-and-answer session.

He was responding to DA chief whip Natasha Mazzone, who had asked what contributions the deputy president had made to the council and his role in ensuring that ministers attend to parliamentary business with urgency.

June 25 2020 - 18:08

More than 50 kids, nearly 200 teachers have contracted Covid-19 in Gauteng

As of Tuesday, the number of pupils across Gauteng who have contracted Covid-19 is 58, while 188 educators have contracted the virus.

The majority of schools in the province have reopened, but some could not because of infrastructural challenges. Others had to close due to positive cases and community disruptions linked to contracts for PPE and infrastructure, including communities resisting deployment of brigades from other communities.

June 25 2020 - 17:58

Lockdown benefits are now maxed out, says David Mabuza

The country has derived maximum benefit from the national lockdown and it is now up to citizens to take the correct steps to curb the spread of Covid-19.

This is what Deputy President David Mabuza told MPs in the National Assembly on Thursday during an oral question-and-answer session.

Mabuza also dismissed suggestions by DA chief whip Natasha Mazzone that co-operative governance & traditional affairs (Cogta) minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was a de facto prime minister, given the powers vested in her during the lockdown in terms of the Disaster Management Act.

June 25 2020 - 17:19

Sex, lies and stigma: why people are avoiding state quarantine facilities

Concerns about access to alcohol and abstinence from sex are among the reasons Covid-19 patients and their contacts in the Western Cape are not willing to quarantine or isolate away from home.

Shane Hindley, senior manager at the provincial transport and public works department, said on Thursday that having activated 4,700 quarantine and isolation beds, the Western Cape government was “experiencing very high rejection rates” as people fear stigma.

June 25 2020 - 16:04

Sassa closes KwaMashu office after worker tests positive for Covid-19

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) office in KwaMashu, north of Durban, has been temporarily closed after an official tested positive for Covid-19.

The agency said in a statement that the office had been closed on Thursday until further notice and that the health department would be conducting tests on 31 staff members.

June 25 2020 - 15:57

Ebola and measles, plus Covid-19, give Africa a pandemic triple-whammy

The coronavirus is only one of three life-threatening viruses affecting African countries at the moment, said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organisation (WHO) director for Africa, at a briefing on Thursday.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is currently battling the world’s biggest outbreak of measles and an 11th outbreak of Ebola — at the same time as Covid-19.

June 25 2020 - 15:38

Motshekga satisfied with reopening of schools, says 'platooning' likely as more children go back

Basic education minister Angie Motshekga says there has been a 98% attendance rate by the first cohort of pupils to return to class as schools reopened for grades 7 and 12.

Motshekga was briefing the National Council of Provinces on Thursday on progress made on measures to manage the impact and spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in schools.

“In the past 14 days, we have had 98% of attendance at our schools, which means our parents trust what we are doing and that parents have stepped up to work with us to make sure the children are protected,” Motshekga said.

June 25 2020 - 15:32

WATCH | SA cannot be complacent, expert warns as Covid-19 vaccine trial begins

Prof Shabir Madhi, director of the SA Medical Research Council's Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Analytics research unit, has warned South Africans against being complacent as the historic Covid-19 vaccination trial kicks off.

June 25 2020 - 13:48

It’s not like restaurants paused and if you push play we can continue as before, says celeb chef

Restaurateurs have mixed feelings about reopening their eateries for sit-down meals as per the government’s promised partial relaxation of lockdown restrictions. The date upon which they’ll be able to do so is still to be confirmed.

We asked the owners of a bistro in SA’s gourmet capital, a neighbourhood pizzeria in Joburg and a harbourside restaurant in Durban about the challenges they’ll face as they prepare to kick-start their businesses.

June 25 2020 - 13:36

Covid-19 pain worse than surgery and childbirth, says Cape Town woman

Six members of the Wyngaardt family entered quarantine at the Lagoon Beach Hotel in Milnerton, Cape Town, on Friday June 12.

Jade and George Wyngaardt and their four young children recovered from Covid-19 at the seafront hotel-turned-quarantine site.

Jade was the first in the family to begin to feel ill, on Saturday June 6. She is a former breast cancer patient, who was treated for cancer while pregnant with twins in 2017. She is in remission, but she is also more vulnerable than most to sickness, after undergoing chemotherapy and a double mastectomy.

On the morning of Wednesday June 8, George woke to find Jade unable to move, with a severe headache, body pains and vomiting. Jade said the pain she experienced between Tuesday evening and Friday surpassed the pain of her chemotherapy, surgeries and natural childbirth.

June 25 2020 - 12:56

Saving the academic year: five critical points on education

A virtual briefing made to the parliamentary portfolio committee on higher education, science & technology on Wednesday outlined plans to save the 2020 academic year.

SA Union of Students (SAUS), Universities SA (Usaf) and the SA Further Education and Training Students Association (Safetsa) also outlined their Covid-19 readiness and challenges they faced.

Here are five important takeaways from the briefing:

June 25 2020 - 12:27

More KZN schools with Covid-19 cases suspend classes

Classes have been suspended at more KwaZulu-Natal schools as more teachers test positive for Covid-19.

June 25 2020 - 11:52

Social media 'gossip' drives Covid-positive Benoni teacher to set herself on fire

A school principal whose wife attempted to commit suicide because of depression over Covid-19 plans to embark on community education campaigns aimed at destigmatising people infected by the virus.

Speaking to Sowetan from his Benoni home in Ekurhuleni on Tuesday, the 51-year-old whose name is being withheld to protect their children, battled to save his 48-year-old wife from the flames engulfing her isolation room at their house.

June 25 2020 - 11:31

Budget speech did not lay groundwork for recovery, says think-tank IRR

Finance minister Tito Mboweni's supplementary budget speech was all talk and no action, according to the Institute of Race Relations (IRR).

“Instead of laying the groundwork for recovery, he did nothing more than pay lip service to prudent fiscal management,” the think-tank charged in a statement.

On the eve of Mboweni's budget speech on Wednesday, the institute set out measures it believed the minister could announce to get SA back to work.

June 25 2020 - 10:06

Cape Town chefs paying it forward with ‘Soupathon 1,000’ during Covid-19 pandemic

Cape Town chefs are paying it forward during the Covid-19 pandemic by feeding more than 37,000 hungry people in the Western Cape.

Through the initiative “Soupathon 1,000", the chefs of Extreem Kwizeen are assisting those affected the most with daily soup and bread.

Speaking to TimesLIVE, one of the head chefs, Evan Coosner, said to date, more than 150 chefs from all walks of life and all levels of hospitality have offered their skills and the goal is to produce 326,000 cups of soup a month.

June 25 2020 - 09:12

Teachers in Cape Town protest against 'premature reopening of schools'

June 25 2020 - 08:45

WATCH | Unpacking Tito Mboweni’s supplementary budget speech

June 25 2020 - 08:35

WATCH | No towels, no saunas: A glimpse inside what the 'new normal' for gyms will be

Gyms had to close their doors at the same time as the rest of the country when lockdown level 5 was implemented in March.

Before they closed, international studies showed that gyms would be a hotspot for spreading Covid-19 - forcing many around the world to close their doors, often even if they were still allowed to operate.

June 25 2020 - 08:00

Kaya FM premises temporarily closed after Covid-19 cas

"Kaya FM’s management has taken the decision to immediately close its premises, due to a confirmed Covid-19 case amongst staff. Our company of 97 employees have been informed, and we as a company are managing the potential for further exposure pending the results of other employees’ tests."

June 25 2020 - 07:14

Tears of joy as Sowetans kick off Africa’s first Covid-19 vaccine trial

In a Gauteng medical facility, a 28-year-old man quietly wiped away tears.

He ​​and others share their thoughts with us on being SA's first citizens to take part in a global Covid-19 vaccine trial.