CORONAVIRUS UPDATE - 24 MARCH 2020 - COVID-19 NUMBER JUMPS TO 554 POSITIVE CASES WITH AN INCREASE OF 152 FROM YESTERDAY

South Africa now has 554 Covid-19 cases in the country.

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize made the announcement during a briefing on Tuesday.

The case count has jumped by 152 from 402 on Monday.

This is the biggest daily jump in cases in the country.

“We have five confirmed conversions where people who initially tested positive have since tested negative.

“The rate at which the numbers are increasing, we expect the numbers will still increase for the next week. Once our programme tightens up, we should be seeing towards the end of the second or third week to see the reflection of the curve,” Mkhize says.

Spread among family
Mkhize says the national lockdown is not an invitation for South Africans to let their guard down on hygiene control measures.

He says China’s data shows that “75% of the spread happened in family settings”.

“If there is someone who is positive in a family setting, the family tends to be affected. This becomes an important issue to be considerate about,” Mkhize stresses.

The minister encourages people on lockdown to continue sneezing into their elbow, washing their hands regularly for 20 seconds and wiping down shared surfaces in the home as the incubation period of two weeks could mean that carriers do not display any symptoms.

Coronavirus case breakdown
There are five confirmed conversions where people who initially tested positive have since tested negative, Mkhize confirms.

However, he points at that the rate at which the numbers are increasing, further climbs are expected.

“Once our programme tightens up, we should be seeing towards the end of the second or third week to see the reflection of the curve.

“These measures, if we all work together, must turn the curve around.

“If we are able to contain everyone who has the potential of passing on the infection, when the 14 days lapses, it should be possible to allow people to shed the virus and not spread it,” says the minister.

Gauteng 302

Western Cape 113

KZN 80

Free State 18

Mpumalanga 9

North West 5

Limpopo 4

Northern Cape 2

Eastern Cape 2

Gauteng has the highest number of cases in the country, with a large number in Johannesburg.

In the Free State, where five foreigners attending a local church gathering service earlier this month tested positive, there have since been new transmissions, Mkhize confirms.

“Here we had a church that had 300 people over four days. The church had five people visiting from abroad, all of whom were found to be positive. They are all in the Free State. One has been taken to hospital. Four are still in quarantine. We have tracked all the contacts and found that amongst them, those are the ones who are positive,” Mkhize adds.

In the Northern Cape, one of the patients attended the church service in the Free State.

“We tested them while they were still in the Free State,” Mkhize says.

The other patient in the province has a history of travel.

In the daily released figures, there is now an unallocated figure. These are patients whose location has not yet been confirmed.

“The problem with those, the numbers are increasing and we are finding missing information. When we get the information, we will clean it up,” the minister explains.

As at 23 March, 12 815 Covid-19 tests have been conducted, with 10 000 done in private laboratories.

Here’s what the lockdown will entail
From midnight on Thursday 26 March until midnight Thursday 16 April, all South Africans must stay at home.

Health workers in the private and public sectors, emergency personnel, those in security services, including police, traffic officers, military medical personnel and soldiers as well as other persons necessary for government’s response to the pandemic.

It will also include those involved in the production, distribution and supply of food and basic goods; essential banking services; the maintenance of power, water and telecommunication services;  laboratory services and the provision of medical and hygiene services.

No one will 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.

Temporary shelters that meet the necessary hygiene standards will be identified for the homeless.

“Sites are also being identified for quarantine and self-isolation for people who cannot self-isolate at home,” Ramaphosa explains.

Shops
All shops and businesses will be closed except for pharmacies, laboratories, banks, essential financial payment services, including the JSE, supermarkets, petrol stations and healthcare providers.

Companies that are essential to the production and transportation of food, basic goods and medical supplies will remain open.

Covid-19: Early social grant payout for some in April
Companies whose operations require continuous processes such as furnaces and underground mine operations will be required to make arrangements for care and maintenance to avoid damage to their continuous operations.

Firms who are able to continue their operations remotely should do so.

“Provision will be made for essential transport services to continue, including transport for essential staff and patients who need to be managed elsewhere,” Ramaphosa adds.

Army
Ramaphosa has announced that the army will be deployed.

“I have accordingly directed the South African National Defence Force to be deployed to support police in ensuring the measures we are announcing are implemented.”

Members of the Sandf were seen in Johannesburg today. The defence force had indicated that their presence was a normal part of their “mobilisation phase as part of normal preparations for support to Government and it is not a deployment as speculated”.

Hospitals
The nationwide lockdown would be accompanied by a public health management programme “which will significantly increase screening, testing, contact tracing and medical management”.

Community health teams will focus on expanding screening and testing where people live, “focusing first on high-density and high-risk areas”, Ramaphosa explains.

To ensure hospitals are not overwhelmed, a system will be put in place for centralised patient management for severe cases and decentralise primary care for mild cases.

Travel
South African citizens and residents arriving from high-risk countries will be placed under quarantine for 14 days.

Non-South Africans arriving on flights will be turned back.

International flights to Lanseria International Airport will temporarily be suspended.

“International travellers who arrived in South Africa after 9 March from high-risk countries will be confined to their hotels until they have completed a 14-day period quarantine,” the president announced.

A total of 12 815 tests have been conducted, with 12 413 people testing negative.

Gauteng has the highest number of cases with 207, followed by the Western Cape with 100 Covid-19 cases.

KwaZulu-Natal has 60 cases, Free State 13, Mpumalanga nine, Limpopo and North West four respectively, and the Northern and Eastern Cape two, with one case’s location unknown at this stage.

There have been no Coronavirus-related deaths in the country since the first case was confirmed on Thursday 5 March.

South Africa has gazetted a new set of regulations, which include a number of stringent measures to curb the spread of the virus in the country. Travel bans, the closure of schools as well as limiting the sale of alcohol are of the new regulations.

Read more here on the regulations gazetted as part of the Disaster Management Act after Ramaphosa declared the Covid-19 outbreak a national state of disaster last Sunday.

via - POWERFM