CORONAVIRUS UPDATE - SOUTH AFRICA - CONFIRMED CASES NOW AT 51

The following press release was released by the Department of Health:

As of today, 15 March 2020, the total number of confirmed cases is now 51. This means that our numbers have increased by 13 since yesterday’s announcement.

The breakdown per province is as follows:

GAUTENG: 7
⁃A 60 year old male who had travelled to Iran.
⁃A 36 year old male who had travelled to the UK
⁃A 54 year old male who had travelled to Switzerland
⁃A 27 year old male who had travelled to the UK
⁃A 21 year old female who had travelled to Germany
⁃A 53 year old female who had travelled to Germany
⁃A 29 year old male who had travelled to Switzerland

WESTERN CAPE: 5
⁃A 35 year old female who had travelled to Germany and Austria
⁃A 42 year old female who had travelled to Spain, Switzerland and the UK
⁃A 50 year old male who had travelled to the Netherlands
⁃A 33 year old male who had travelled to Switzerland
⁃A 35 year old male who had travelled to Austria

KWAZULU-NATAL: 1
⁃A 34 year old male who had travelled to the UK

MEETING OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH COUNCIL
Last night the Minister and Deputy Minister of Health held an urgent National Health Council meeting with all the Provincial MECs and HODs for Health. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the latest situational analysis of each province as more cases COVID-19 cases are being confirmed.

In our engagement, it became clear that the role played by contact tracers is very important and their capacity needs to be strengthened. The NHC agreed that in order to minimize the risk of further spread of the virus, contact tracing must be done within 48 hours.


Dr Zwelini Mkhize
Minister of Health

via - DOH