COVID-19 WRAP | SA records more than 2,000 new Covid-19 cases

September 10 2020 - 22:33

SA records more than 2,000 new Covid-19 cases

South Africa now has a total of 644,438 Covid-19 cases and 2,007 of these were recorded in the last 24-hours, health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said on Thursday.

September 10 2020 - 17:23

Cabinet extends national state of disaster but relaxed lockdown looms

The cabinet has approved the extension of the national state of disaster until October 15.

The extension was approved to “continue giving effect to the regulations that remain relevant to manage the spread of Covid-19 infections,” spokesperson Phumla Williams said in a statement on the outcome of a virtual cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

September 10 2020 - 16:06

Western Cape premier Winde wants international borders reopened

Western Cape premier Alan Winde says he will ask President Cyril Ramaphosa to scrap all disaster regulations affecting industries and open international borders. 

In Winde’s weekly news conference on Thursday, Western Cape health department head Dr Keith Cloete presented statistics showing the province had reached a Covid-19 test positivity rate below 10%.

September 10 2020 - 15:59

35 children have died of Covid-19 in Gauteng as hospital admissions drop

Covid-19 related deaths have claimed the lives of 35 young children and teenagers in Gauteng since March. 

This was revealed in the latest weekly report by the provincial command council on Thursday. 

This comes as the province recorded 213,741 cumulative cases and 3,860 deaths. Of the deaths, 2,074 (54%) were males and 1,786 (46%) were females. 

September 10 2020 - 15:41

24 children killed during level 5 of lockdown in Eastern Cape

A total of 24 children were killed in the Eastern Cape during level 5 of the Covid-19 lockdown, according to the latest quarterly crime statistics released by safety and liaison MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe on Thursday.

The data, released during a virtual media briefing with provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Liziwe Ntshinga, indicates that crimes against children from April 1 to June 30 this year increased by 12.3% compared to the same period last year.

There was a 26.3% increase in the killing of children during that period.

September 10 2020 - 14:56

KZN gives R2.1bn Covid-19 spend breakdown ahead of lifestyle audits

Almost 40% of the R2.1bn spent by the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government on procuring PPE and other goods and services as part of the response to Covid-19 was spent on African-owned companies. 

Premier Sihle Zikalala made these statistics available when he released a report on owners and directors of companies awarded Covid-19 contracts on Thursday.

September 10 2020 - 13:31

Keeping the tourism sector closed is unjustifiable, says Wits professor

There is no reason tourism poses a greater risk than any other sector by being open, says a Wits professor.

September 10 2020 - 13:00

Load-shedding, curfews, TERS delays and lack of funds threaten restaurant business

It never rains but pours for those in the restaurant business. So suggests CEO of the Restaurant Association Wendy Alberts.

Speaking to Tim Modise on his show, Political Currency with Tim Modise, on Business Day TV, Alberts revealed how the odds are stacked against restaurant and bar owners at this time.

September 10 2020 - 12:59

Covid delays sentencing of crèche worker filmed assaulting toddlers

A Carletonville caregiver, who was filmed beating children at the crèche she was employed at, must wait to hear if she will be sentenced to the prescribed jail time of 10 years for assault, or if the court will find that there are extenuating circumstances.

September 9 2020 - 12:22

SA drops to eighth in number of Covid-19 infections globally

With SA's Covid-19 recovery rate remaining stable at more than 88%, the country continues to drop on Worldometers' list of countries with the most Covid-19 infections.

According to Worldometers, SA has dropped four spots to eighth on the list.

Worldometers is a data source that tracks real-time statistics on several topics, including Covid-19. The numbers vary daily as updates continue to stream in.

September 10 2020 - 11:59

Food and drink giants fuelling the risk of Covid-19 deaths: report

Big business has often been hailed as heroic, patriotic and innovative during the Covid-19 pandemic, with many throwing their weight to support their countries' governments during this time of need.

But a new international report says that some of the big corporates, particularly the food and beverage giants, have used this time of calamity to profit and, in the process, have put the lives of people vulnerable to Covid-19 complications at greater risk.

September 10 2020 - 11:38

Corrupt PPE entrepreneurs are like murderers — President Cyril Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has compared those linked to Covid-19 personal protective equipment corruption to murderers.

Ramaphosa, who said this while addressing members of the SA National Editors Forum on Wednesday evening, spoke as prices of some PPE skyrocketed by more than 800%.

“I've often asked myself what gets into somebody's head that a mask that would ordinarily cost R2 or R3 is now sold at R90.

September 10 2020 - 11:37

Biden accuses Trump of betraying Americans by lying about Covid-19

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden accused President Donald Trump on Wednesday of betraying the American people, saying he knowingly lied about the deadliness of the novel coronavirus in what amounted to a “dereliction” of duty.

September 10 2020 - 11:36

The world calls them heroes, but at work SA's doctors are bullied

When a young doctor incorrectly diagnosed a patient, a senior doctor who supervised her simply told her that she was stupid and would need prayers to make it through medicine.

“Later on in the same ward round, there was a similar incident where she (the senior doctor) discarded one of my colleague’s notes, drew a line through it and threw the notes on the floor and asked for someone more competent to reclerk the patient,” she said.

September 10 2020 - 09:33

Booze and cigs smuggling in lockdown will take years to undo, says Sars

The SA Revenue Service says that the smuggling of alcohol and cigarettes that resulted due to the ban on the sales of these items during the lockdown will take a while to undo.  

September 10 2020 - 07:55

Pandemic deaths in SA likely to hit 36,000 this year — close to what consortium modelled in May

“We take no joy in this, but we will probably end up being close to the 40,000 that we projected in mid May if you include excess deaths.”

These are the words of health economist Prof Gesine Meyer-Rath, a member of the National Covid-19 Modelling Consortium which painted a grim picture about two months after the pandemic hit SA.

September 10 2020 - 07:32

Cape protection rackets accused of casting net wider after lockdown kills nightlife

Until the lockdown, the underworld bosses behind Cape Town's protection rackets concentrated mainly on nightclubs.

But when nightlife shut down and revenue dried up, they allegedly began expanding their intimidation tactics to coffee shops, restaurants, hotels and property owners.

Nightclub owners reluctantly paid their monthly “security tax” but business owners in other sectors are furious about being dragged into the clutches of some of Cape Town’s most feared men.

September 10 2020 - 07:23

It was a helluva job, but these modellers got the Covid-19 death toll right

Covid-19 modellers have had a tough task, but one group in particular seems to have hit the nail on the head.

The National Covid-19 Modelling Consortium said 40,000 would die and it looks as if the number for this year will be 36,000.