554 confirmed coronavirus cases in SA
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has confirmed that the country now has 554 confirmed cases of the Covid-19 coronavirus. Doctor Mkhize said health officials were working around the clock to track cases of the virus and trace contacts. Most of the confirmed cases originate in Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. In this case, Mkhize said five individuals who travelled from other countries have tested positive for the virus.
“If we ask you to go to quarantine, go to quarantine. If you don’t go to quarantine we will enforce it,” Docter Mkhize said.
Doctor Mkhize said anyone who refuses to be isolated when they test positive for Covid-19 will have their names published to warn the public to not get close to that person. Doctor Mkhize said a person could face up to 15 years imprisonment if they are in breach of the regulations around testing positive for Covid-19
What you NEED to know:
1. All shops and businesses will be closed, except for pharmacies, laboratories, banks, essential financial and payment services, including the JSE, supermarkets, petrol stations, and health care providers.
2. People exempted from lockdown: essential personnel including health workers, security services and other persons necessary for the response to the pandemic and those involved in the production, distribution, and supply of food and basic goods, essential banking services, the maintenance of power, water and telecommunications services, laboratory services, and the provision of medical and hygiene products. A full list of essential personnel will be published.
3. Individuals will not be allowed to leave their homes except under strictly controlled circumstances such as to seek medical care, buy food, medicine, and other supplies or collect a social grant.
4. Temporary shelters that meet the necessary hygiene standards will be identified for homeless people. Sites are also being identified for quarantine and self-isolation for people who cannot self-isolate at home.
5. Provision will be made for essential transport services to continue, including transport for essential staff and for patients who need to be managed elsewhere.
6. South African citizens and residents arriving from high-risk countries will automatically be placed under quarantine for 14 days.
7. Non-South Africans arriving on flights from high-risk countries identified a week ago will be turned back.
8. International flights to Lanseria Airport will be temporarily suspended.
9. International travellers who arrived in South Africa after 9 March 2020 from high-risk countries will be confined to their hotels until they have completed a 14-day period of quarantine.
23 Mar 2020
Latest confirmed cases of Covid-19
Fellow South Africans, as of today, South Africa now has 402 confirmed cases of COVID-19. This means there has been an increase of 128 from yesterday’s announcement.
It is notable that the Northern Cape has its first confirmed cases.
As has been announced, His Excellency, President MC Ramaphosa will address the nation on measures to be undertaken to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.
We will thereafter engage the public to give further details and explanations on the results including the significant rise, the ongoing testing processes, each province’s progress on contact tracing efforts.
It will be noted in the provincial and age graphs below that there are areas that are listed as unknown. This is information that the NICD is still collating and verifying. Thereafter the garphs will be updated accordingly. Our priority is for Provinces to be alerted of the new confirmed cases so that immediate contact can be made with the these new patients and ensure that contact tracing starts.
Issued by: Department of Health
20 March 2020 At present, 202 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in South Africa – We are awaiting confirmation of the provincial breakdown of the new cases. Large-scale testing is underway at a school in Bloemfontein after the first cases in the province have been confirmed. According to the ministry, a senior expert from the NICD has been dispatched to assist in the Free State
Minister Mkhize was quoted as saying: “As we sit here today, we are sending a message out to out that we must face this as a reality.
The public is urged to familiarise themselves with all the measures that have been put in place in an attempt to slow down the spread of the virus.
Read our recent article on ‘Patient 61’ and his take on living with a COVID-19 diagnosis, HERE
19 March 2020
During a media briefing, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country now stands at 150. The newly-confirmed cases are: Gauteng Province: 15
- A 41-year-old female who travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo
- A 43-year-old female who travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo
- A 37-year-old female with no international travel history
- A 54-year-old female who travelled to the United Kingdom
- A 58-year-old male who travelled to the United Kingdom
- A 38-year-old male who travelled to France
- A 70-year-old female who travelled to the United States of America
- A 30-year-old male who travelled to Spain
- A 45-year-old male who travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo
- An 85-year-old male who travelled to Switzerland
- A 64-year-old male who travelled to Vietnam and Thailand
- A 41-year-old male who travelled to the Netherlands
- A 23-year-old male with pending travel history
- A 5-year-old female with pending travel history
- A 44-year-old male with pending travel history
KwaZulu-Natal Province: 3
- A 71-year-old female who travelled to the United Kingdom
- A 26-year-old male who travelled to Mexico and the United States of America
- A 29-year-old female with pending travel history
Mpumalanga Province: 1
- A 56-year-old female who travelled to France
Western Cape Province: 15
- A 53-year-old female who travelled to the United Kingdom
- A 30-year-old female who travelled to the Netherlands and Qatar
- A 45-year-old male who travelled to Mexico
- A 70-year-old female who travelled to the United States of America
- A 25-year-old female who travelled to the United Kingdom
- A 37-year-old female who travelled to the United Kingdom
- A 43-year-old female who travelled to the United States of America
- A 31-year-old male who travelled to Spain and the Netherlands
- A 53-year-old female who travelled to Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic and Germany
- A 22-year-old female who travelled to the United Kingdom
- A 63-year-old male who travelled to Switzerland, Czech Republic and Germany
- A 22-year-old male who travelled to Spain and the Netherlands
- A 32-year-old male who travelled to the United States of America
- A 37-year-old male with pending travel history
- A 34-year-old male with pending travel history
In a bid to halt the spread of the virus, South Africa has extended its travel ban to France, bringing the total of countries from which travellers to SA are not welcome, to nine. The other 8 countries are:
- China
- Germany
- Italy
- Iran
- South Korea
- Spain
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
Meanwhile, travellers from medium-risk countries are subject to intense health screening. These countries are:
- Hong Kong
- Portugal
- Singapore
The public is once again urged to remain vigilant and to educate themselves on various aspects of the virus, including how it is spread and what the symptoms are. It is imperative to steer clear of any fake news and to refrain from partaking in mass hysteria, despite emotions running high. 
A dedicated Whatsapp hotline is also bringing up-to-date information relating to COVID-19 to the South African public. Read our recent article on ‘Patient 61’ and his take on living with a COVID-19 diagnosis, HERE
Compiled By: Justine Bishop & Joanita van Wyk
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