Coronavirus in SA: Some good news – four patients ‘fully recovered’ in KZN

Well, we’ll take that all day long. It has been revealed by the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) health department that four people who caught coronavirus earlier this month have made full recoveries.

As South Africa’s cases spiked to 274 on Sunday, we certainly needed a bit of good news. President Ramaphosa is due to address the nation on Monday evening, after rolling out a series of strict social distancing measures. There is every chance things will get worse before they get better, but for this moment, we’ll allow ourselves some slight relief.

Coronavirus recoveries in South Africa

Of the four KZN residents now fully-fit again, the first person to contract the disease in South Africa is amongst them. Our “patient zero” was confirmed on Thursday 5 March, and has managed to defeat coronavirus in just over two weeks. The other three also returned from a trip to Italy with the male patient:

• Patient zero is now free of the virus, after he stopped showing symptoms and two tests came back negative.
• Two other patients were released on Saturday, both registering negative tests twice.
• A fourth patient was released on Saturday under the same criteria – a 79-year-old man is one of the recovered cases, giving hope to an elderly community who are the most ‘at-risk’ of coronavirus fatalities.

BREAKING: Some good news. KZN Health MEC announces that there's been FOUR recoveries in the province. All 4 patients are now back at home. They were part of the group of the initial 10 that travelled to Italy and tested positive. #CoronavirusInSA pic.twitter.com/MB9vDDhpNr

— Nabeelah Shaikh (@Nabeelah_Shaikh) March 23, 2020

“Rogue pastors” face the wrath of KZN authorities

KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala was also in attendance at the health department’s briefing. He confirmed that there would be a “day of prayer” organised for Thursday, after he addressed several religious leaders in the province. Zikalala also respond to threats from “rogue pastors” who are planning to hold mass gatherings – against the coronavirus advice issued by the government:

“We respect all people, and treat them with respect. Nobody will have a gathering of 100 people or more. We will not allow that to happen. We want to issue a message that cuts across: You cannot have any mass gatherings, this is a directive that must be observed.”

Sihle Zikalala

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Mr Sihle Zikalala @sziks given a chance to answer questions posed by Interfaith Leaders regarding #Covid19SA and the Provincial Response Plan @kzngov #GrowingKZNTogether pic.twitter.com/HV2Yjv0Yjg

— KZN Provincial Gov (@kzngov) March 23, 2020