Seven more Covid-19 deaths in SA, as cases climb to 2,506

Thirty-four South Africans have now died of Covid-19 and there are 2,506 confirmed cases of the respiratory illness.

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize revealed the figures at a press on Wednesday evening. This was an increase of 91 cases from Tuesday.

Six of the seven deaths were in KwaZulu-Natal, with one in Gauteng.

On Tuesday, Mkhize said in a statement that there were 2,415 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across SA – an increase in 143 cases from the day before.

Of the new cases announced on Wednesday, Mkhize said the majority were in Gauteng, the Western Cape and KZN. These provinces have the highest number of confirmed cases at 930, 657 and 519 respectively.

There are 199 cases in the Eastern Cape, 97 in the Free State, 25 in Limpopo, 23 in the North West, 22 in Mpumalanga and 16 in the Northern Cape.

Explaining the jump in the number of deaths – the single biggest daily increase announced to date – Mkhize said the department had been looking into cases that were not initially reported as being linked to Covid-19 but as tests were done and the results became known, these deaths were reclassified.

The deaths were reported as:

a 71-year-old woman from KZN with underlying diabetes, hypertension and renal failure, who died on April 10;
a 79-year-old man from KZN, who died on April 10 (it was not known if he had underlying illnesses);
a 86-year-old woman from KZN with hypertension, who died on April 9;
a 91-year-old man from KZN with diabetes, who died on April 12;
a 73-year-old woman from KZN with diabetes and hypertension, who died on April 13;
a 79-year-old woman from KZN, who died on April 13 (it was not known if she had underlying illnesses); and
a 50-year-old man from Gauteng with chronic asthma, who died on April 13.

At the same briefing, communications company MultiChoice and soccer teams Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates announced that they had partnered to provide various pieces of protective equipment to frontline healthcare and other workers. This included:

100,000 N95 masks;
350,000 surgical masks;
100,000 gloves;
10,000 protective overalls;
10,000 wipes; and
100,000 shoe covers.

[Photos] Dr Chetty from @HealthZA inspecting the #COVID19 Personal Protective Equipment donated by South Africa’s largest football teams @KaizerChiefs ✌?& @orlandopirates ??at the National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg. #StayAtHome and #SaveSA?? pic.twitter.com/MM10Lut0Oc

— South African Government (@GovernmentZA) April 15, 2020

Mkhize said it was important to note that as the number of positive cases increased, the message of staying at home remained vital.

“The possibility of the infection spreading is high if people don’t stay at home,” he said.