A child wearing a protective facemask waits to receive her breakfast by volunteers of the non profit organisation and charity group “Hunger has no Religion”. Photo: AFP/MARCO LONGARI
The Health Ministry announced that the number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa had risen to 29 240; an increase of 1 837 since Thursday.
A child wearing a protective facemask waits to receive her breakfast by volunteers of the non profit organisation and charity group “Hunger has no Religion”. Photo: AFP/MARCO LONGARI
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize briefed the media on Friday evening, 29 May 2020 regarding lockdown level three, and released the current COVID-19 figures as well.
Minister Mkhize was joined by members of the Ministerial Advisory Committee, senior officials from the Department of Health and the leadership of Health Entities, as well as SAHPRA, NHLS, and NICD.
The Health Ministry announced that the number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa had increased by 1 837 since Thursday 28 May, bringing the total cumulative caseload to 29 240.
Deaths also increased by 59; the total number of COVID-19-related deaths now stands at 611. In addition, 15 093 people have recovered from the virus. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said during the briefing:
“Our infection rose from imported cases and we had to impose a lockdown immediately. Now other issues have risen, and we need to consider these important issues as we move to a new reality”.
As of today, the cumulative number of confirmed #COVID19 cases in South Africa is 29 240, total number of deaths is 611 and
— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) May 29, 2020
the recoveries to date are 15 093. pic.twitter.com/PueE13s3kZ
#COVID19 Statistics in South Africa as at 29 May 2020. pic.twitter.com/pjWFXDWkD9
— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) May 29, 2020
The confirmed COVID-19 cases per province is as follows:
Province | Total Cases | New Cases | Total Deaths | Total Recoveries |
Gauteng | 3 583 | 254 | 31 | 2 019 |
Western Cape | 18 906 | 1 152 | 437 | 9 390 |
KwaZulu Natal | 2 428 | 79 | 50 | 1 180 |
Free State | 231 | 6 | 8 | 124 |
Eastern Cape | 3 583 | 277 | 80 | 1 700 |
Limpopo | 170 | 26 | 3 | 97 |
Mpumalanga | 112 | 1 | 0 | 67 |
North West | 143 | 9 | 1 | 45 |
Northern Cape | 52 | 1 | 1 | 31 |
Unallocated | 32 | 32 |
On Thursday evening, Minister Mkhize also addressed the backlog of more than 96 000 unprocessed COVID-19 tests. He explained that limited availability of kits poses a challenge. As of today:
Also read – Mkhize cites backlog of over 96 000 COVID-19 tests
Confirmed global cases stand at 5 971 159 and 364 301 deaths. More than 2 629 624 people have recovered from the virus, which was declared as a worldwide pandemic in January 2020.
The USA currently has the most cases – 1 777 821 confirmed cases and 103 822 confirmed deaths; a total of 502 116 citizens have recovered and more than 16 million have been tested.
Out of America’s 1 171 883 active cases, 17 161 are critical. Brazil is still the second most-affected country 443 542 confirmed cases and 26 899 deaths. In addition, 193 181 patients have recovered