COVID-19 WRAP | SA records 3, 692 new virus cases & ANC supports cabinet's decision to move SA to level 2

August 16 2020 - 20:35

SA records 3, 692 new virus cases

South Africa has recorded 587 345 Covid-19 cases, with 3, 692 new cases tallied in the last 24-hours. 

Provincial breakdown of virus cases:

• Eastern Cape 84, 006
• Free State 31, 870
• Gauteng 199 635
• KwaZulu-Natal 105 383
• Limpopo 11, 573
• Mpumalanga 21, 289
• North West 23, 250
• Northern Cape 7, 840
• Western Cape 102 449

August 16 2020 - 18:48

IN PICTURES | Now that drive-in cinemas are back, Capetonians are attending in their numbers

The Galileo Open Air Cinema has gradulally brought back drive-in cinema and Capetorians are relishing.

August 16 2020 - 18:09

ANC supports cabinet's decision to move SA to level 2

August 16 2020 - 16:27

Germany tracks down most travellers with Covid-19 after test blunder

The German state of Bavaria said on Sunday it has tracked down most of the people returning from abroad who tested positive for the coronavirus but were not told about it in a debacle that embarrassed a possible successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Bavaria said in a statement that it had found 903 of the 949 people who tested positive out of a total of 44,000 travellers returning to the country, while it could not locate personal data for 46 of the positive tests.

August 16 2020 - 13:52

Doctors say level 2 is right move, but appeal for respect of lockdown rules

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that SA will move to lockdown level 2 from midnight on Monday is welcomed as a step in the right direction for the country by the SA Medical Association (Sama).

“This is the correct decision by government and signals a major shift in the country’s response to the coronavirus. We are happy with this decision and believe it will go some way to begin addressing some of the economic issues our country currently faces,” says Dr Angelique Coetzee, chairperson of Sama.

The organisation endorsed the president’s call for people to continue wearing masks, washing and sanitising their hands, and practising social distancing.

Fitness centres have also welcomed the announcement that the fitness industry, including gyms, can reopen soon after a prolonged closure — providing they meet certain protocols.

August 16 2020 - 11:57

IN HER OWN WORDS | A nurse’s experience of Covid-19 as cases peak

It’s hard for me to wake up in the morning knowing what awaits me at work. I count the days until the weekend when I am off and I can breathe a small sigh of relief.

I wake up at 4am, but just before I leave the bed I spend a few moments thinking about what I will experience when my shift starts at 6am.

August 16 2020 - 11:53

Breakfast in brown paper bag at quarantine hotel hard to swallow - paying guests

Breakfast delivered in a brown paper packet — two rashers of bacon, scrambled egg and baked beans, all cold — was not what a Nelson Mandela Bay woman had dreamt of for her birthday breakfast at the Radisson Blu Hotel.

But the breakfast soon became the last thing on her mind when she found out she had unknowingly stayed at a Covid-19 quarantine hotel.

August 16 2020 - 11:35

Tech lifelines keep human touch alive in the time of Covid-19

Infected with Covid-19, gravely ill Walter Bowers was not alone when he turned 100 in the high-care ward of a Sandton hospital.

A video call allowed his daughter, Jenny Cottrell, to be right there to mark his milestone birthday. And during Bowers’ marathon stay at Mediclinic Sandton in Johannesburg, she was able to monitor and virtually “visit” him.

August 16 2020 - 11:16

SA masks change lives in townships and cheer up Belgians

A consignment of 1,200 brightly coloured masks made in Diepsloot, Alexandra and Tembisa that travelled almost 13,000km to be worn in Belgium tell a life-changing story of 270 township seamstresses during the pandemic.

The seamstresses are part of the Masks4All initiative of the Youth Employment Service (YES), which has so far seen nearly 120,000 masks made and injected more than R1m into township businesses.

August 16 2020 - 10:41

Dig deeper into Covid-19 graft, urges Bathabile Dlamini

ANC Women's League (ANCWL) president Bathabile Dlamini has called on the party to cast the net wider in its investigation of Covid-19-related corruption - and not focus only on the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE).

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Dlamini said the global pandemic brought with it a number of transactions that the ANC national executive committee needed to look into. This is beyond what has been unearthed with regard to PPE suppliers and their connections to political players.

August 16 2020 - 10:24

Russia reports nearly 5,000 new Covid-19 cases

Russia reported 4,969 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, bringing its nationwide tally to 922,853, the fourth highest caseload in the world.

Russia's coronavirus crisis response centre said that 68 people had died over the past 24 hours, pushing its official coronavirus death toll to 15,685, adding that 732,968 people have recovered. 

- Reuters

August 16 2020 - 9:53

'Corona is only here by name': New virus hotspot KZN warned not to slack

KwaZulu-Natal — which has been highlighted as a new Covid-19 hotspot — has shown a slight downward trend in cases within the last five days, but complacency could bring a second surge of infections.

That’s the word from professor Salim Abdool Karim, head of the ministerial advisory committee on the coronavirus, after a five-day assessment of the province.

The Sunday Times visited hotspot areas identified by Zikalala, including Chatsworth, Phoenix, Westville and Umlazi, to gauge whether residents were abiding by the rules and regulations.

“Some are scared, but I am not afraid of anything, I am fine. The community is not following it [lockdown regulations] properly,” said a Chatsworth resident who identified himself only as Quinton.

August 16 2020 - 9:11

Covid-19 corruption: accounts in PPE scandal frozen

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) this week froze bank accounts holding more than R100m suspected to have been obtained fraudulently from the Gauteng health department by three companies accused of inflating the prices of goods meant to fight Covid-19.

The accounts belong to Ledla Structural Development, Royal Bhaca Projects and Mediwaste, the companies at the centre of the personal protection equipment (PPE) scandal that has rocked the department.

August 16 2020 - 8:42

South Korea accuses religious sect leader as Covid-19 cases surge

South Korea accused the leader of a religious sect on Sunday of violating self-isolation rules and obstructing investigations into the country's biggest outbreak of new coronavirus in five months.

South Korea reported 279 new cases on Sunday, more than double the 103 reported on Friday, with most of the new infections found in and around Seoul.

The capital posted a record 146 new cases, out of which 107 were linked to Sarang Jeil Church led by Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon, a controversial pastor and an outspoken government critic.

August 16 2020 - 8:37

Alarm, anger over state instruction to test bodies for Covid-19

A new directive from the health department that anyone who dies of natural causes outside a hospital be tested for Covid-19 before a death certificate is issued has thrown the funeral industry into confusion.

The instruction, issued on Wednesday by health director-general Sandile Buthelezi, has sparked anger and confusion among undertakers and health professionals who say it will delay burials and pose health risks.

August 16 2020 - 8:09

New Zealand's Covid-19 outbreak grows, as Australian cases ease

A new coronavirus outbreak in New Zealand is still growing, health officials said on Sunday, with the country that had an early triumph over the pandemic recording 13 new cases and putting the September general election in question.

After stifling the virus earlier this year before it became a public health crisis and after 102 days without new infections, an abrupt resurgence last week in Auckland prompted an immediate lockdown of the country's largest city.

Sunday's numbers bring New Zealand's total active cases to 69, providing more ammunition to a conservative opposition that wants to delay a September 19 general election, which opinion polls show Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's Labour Party winning. Ardern is expected to resist a delay but has said she will decide by Monday.

In neighbouring Australia, which has also been struggling with a resurgence of the coronavirus in two of its largest states, New South Wales and Victoria, there were signs of a further downward trend.

New South Wales reported just five new cases, while Victoria, where masks became compulsory in July after the state became the centre of the country's largest outbreak, reported 279 new cases on Sunday, along with 16 more deaths.

The daily number of new cases this week has been well below the peak of 725 on August 5. Melbourne, the state's capital, remains under a strict lockdown.

- Reuters

August 16 2020 - 8:02

China new local Covid-19 cases fall as Xinjiang cluster recedes

China's new locally transmitted cases of the novel coronavirus fell to a one-month low as a cluster in the western region of Xinjiang receded, data released by the country's health authority on Sunday showed.

The number of locally transmitted cases in China dropped to four on August 15, all of which were in Xinjiang, the National Health Commission said in a statement. That compares with eight cases nationwide a day earlier, and is the lowest since July 16.

No new locally transmitted cases were recorded on August 15 in the city of Shenzhen in southern Guangdong province, after provincial authorities there reported fresh infections a day earlier.

A woman who worked at an Alibaba-owned supermarket chain in Shenzhen had returned to her hometown of Lufeng and tested positive for the virus on August 14. Both cities are in Guangdong.

On the same day, Lufeng also reported three asymptomatic cases, while Shenzhen reported two asymptomatic carriers. Asymptomatic cases test positive for the virus, but China does not classify them as confirmed cases until they show clinical symptoms of infection such as a fever or a cough.

In mainland China, the total number of new confirmed infections stood at 19 on August 15, including so-called imported cases involving travellers arriving from abroad. That compares with 22 a day earlier. As of August 15, mainland China had 84,827 confirmed coronavirus cases. The death toll remained unchanged at 4,634. 

- Reuters

August 16 2020 - 7:47

August 16 2020 - 7:32

Internal feud rages in SIU as it tries to probe Covid corruption

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which has been given sweeping powers to investigate Covid-19 procurement irregularities, has itself been accused of flouting regulations by irregularly appointing a company to make face masks for its staff.

In a scathing letter to justice minister Ronald Lamola, the unit's head of strategy, Ziphozenkosi Mguli, accuses its CFO, Andre Gernandt, of instructing officials to handpick a specific company for the contract without following tender processes.

His letter also levels several allegations at SIU head Andy Mothibi, accusing him of the irregular appointment of executives, maladministration, abuse of power and the irregular awarding of contracts.

August 16 2020 - 7:16

Cheers all round as Ramaphosa lifts bans, puts SA back on road to recovery

President Cyril Ramaphosa last night swept aside most of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in a bold move intended to restart an economy shattered by nearly five months of lockdown.

Level 2 takes effect from midnight tomorrow, when restrictions on booze, cigarettes, interprovincial travel and personal and family visits will largely fall away. Bans will remain on spectators at live sport, and on international travel.

The new regulations will be especially well received by the tourism sector, which has been warning of a jobs bloodbath of up to 600,000 posts unless interprovincial travel is permitted again.

August 16 2020 - 7:10

WATCH | Alcohol, tobacco and local travel are back: SA to move to level 2

August 16 2020 - 7:05

Restaurant Association of SA cheers while hurt tobacco industry is wary

The tobacco industry has cautiously welcomed the announcement that cigarettes can be sold from Tuesday, but the ban on trade for five months has left it reeling.

The Fair-Trade Independent Tobacco Association (Fita), which primarily represents local manufacturers, on Friday won the right for the Supreme Court of Appeal to hear its bid to overturn the lockdown ban on tobacco sales.

The organisation said it met President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement on Saturday night that the ban would be lifted as part of a move to level 2 of lockdown from Tuesday “with a degree of caution”.

August 16 2020 - 7:00

Hardest work starts now, says Western Cape premier Alan Winde after SA moves to level 2

“Let's get to work,” Western Cape premier Alan Winde told residents of the province after President Cyril Ramaphosa's easing of the Covid-19 lockdown on Saturday.

“Now is the time for us all to pull together and build a stronger, more resilient future for this province,” said Winde, who had spent the last two weeks calling for a revival of economic activity to stave off what he has dubbed a “second pandemic” of poverty, hunger and unemployment.

Winde said midnight on Monday, when the lockdown will be eased to level 2, marked the moment when SA must get back to work.