‘Regardless of the number of positive people in any given locality, the answer to staying safe remains the same.’
The Northern Cape Department of Health says that while it is aware of reports about additional people in Kimberley testing positive for Covid19, it is only able to publish such information once it has been verified by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases and announced in a press release from the Minister for Health.
According to the figures announced on Friday night by the MInister of Health, the number of positive cases in the province has risen from 17 to 18.
However, KimMed Hospital in Kimberley reported that a 31-year-old patient had tested positive, while Gariep Mediclinic confirmed a further four positive cases in the hospital.
The Northern Cape Department of Health said on Saturday morning that “regardless of the number of positive people in any given locality, the answer to staying safe remains the same”.
This includes social distancing of at least 1 meter, wearing a cloth mask or cover your nose and mouth with a scarf when in public areas, hand hygiene by washing regularly with soap and water for 20 seconds or using 60% alcohol hand sanitizer if water is not available, self quarantine if you think you may have Covid19, self isolate or isolate at hospital if you are infected with Covid19, staying at home if you don’t need to go out, avoiding being near groups or crowds and not feeding rumors or fake news.
According to the latest figures from the National Department of Health issued on Friday evening, 13 more South Africans have died of Covid-19 and there are now 5 951 cases in the country.
This is an increase of 304 cases in the last 24 hours, with the death toll climbing to 116.
Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize released the figures in a statement on Friday night.
To date, 217 522 tests have been completed, 9 992 in the last 24 hours.
The Western Cape remained the country’s Covid-19 epicentre, followed by Gauteng and KZN.
The provincial breakdown was provided as:
Western Cape — 2 507 (up from 2 342);
Gauteng — 1 507 (up from 1 446);
KwaZulu-Natal — 1 006 (up from 980);
Eastern Cape — 691 (up from 647);
Free State — 118 (up from 116);
Mpumalanga — 36 (up from 35);
North West — 35 (up from 31);
Limpopo — 34 (up from 32); and
Northern Cape — 18 (up from 17).
