Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has announced that there are now 2,783 confirmed cases of coronavirus in South Africa – a significant increase of 178 cases from Thursday. On Thursday, there were 2,605 cases. South Africa’s testing has hit over the 100,000 mark, with 100,827 tests now conducted.
The minister also reported two additional deaths, taking the country’s total to 50. Gauteng has also passed 1,000 cases (1,018), remaining the hardest hit province in the country. Globally, coronavirus cases closed in on 2.2 million infections, with deaths climbing to 147,512, along with more than 557,000 recoveries.
The Trump administration issued guidelines that could allow states and employers to abandon most social distancing practices within a month, Bloomberg reported. China’s GDP meanwhile showed the first contraction in decades after the outbreak shut down large parts of the world’s second-biggest economy. The country revised its death toll by 39%, adding more than 1,000 fatalities in Wuhan, where the epidemic first emerged.
As at today, the total number of confirmed #COVID_19 cases in South Africa is 2783. pic.twitter.com/cBQs3KgvSo
— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) April 17, 2020
The latest revision of the coronavirus death toll by authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan “can stand the test of history,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a briefing on Friday.
Peter Attard Montalto of Intellidex, a capital markets and financial services research house, said that there has been some promise that further relaxations will occur in the coming weeks in South Africa, “but we are yet to see a proper risk adjusted approach with any business able to resume if it can show appropriate health protocols”.
“The government’s command and control mindset is still hampering the transition to this mode,” he said. Attard Montalto said that the government’s message is conflicting, with talk about lockdown ending, but then also saying it could be extended.
“We do expect government to eventually switch to this risk adjusted mindset and that after that we enter a new phase which may well have to last till start September at least when DoH (Department of Health) currently see the number of cases peaking at the end of winter,” he said. Crucially for the average South African, Attard Montalto said that a generalised ban on movement however, is likely to be extended from the end April, though allowing more firms to work with health protocols.
“That said the alternative scenario is that we see the lockdown end to some degree in May, but then have to be put back in place through end June and into July as case and death numbers accelerate fastest in mid-winter. Both scenarios are broadly the same in terms of economic impact,” he said.
In other news – Rachel Kolisi claps back after being attacked for straightening her Daughter’s hair
Rachel Kolisi had to put a few trolls in their place in her Instagram comments section after they criticized her for straightening her two-year-old daughter’s usually curly hair.
One person accused her of not “embracing” her child for who she is and not teaching her daughter to “love her curls. Read more
Source: businesstech
