Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize announced the country’s latest COVID-19 figures, which are as follows:

A total of 356 067 COVID-19 tests has been conducted, of which 14 731 are new tests since yesterday’s [May 10] report.

There are 637 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, with the total number of confirmed cases at 10 652.

Sector

Total tested

New tested

Private

174 978

49%

6 439

44%

Public

181 089

51%

8 292

56%

Grand Total

35

Province

New cases

Total cases

Percentage total

Eastern Cape

138

1356

12,7

Free State

0

135

1,3

Gauteng

19

1971

18,5

KwaZulu-Natal

19

1372

112,9

Limpopo

0

54

0,6

Mpumalanga

2

63

0,6

North West

5

50

0,5

Northern Cape

1

30

0,3

Western Cape

453

5 621

52,8

Unknown

0

0

0,0

Total

637

10 652

100

Deaths and Recoveries

Total Deaths : 206

Total Recoveries : 4 357

We are saddened to report 12 new deaths.

Western Cape: 8
Eastern Cape: 2
KwaZulu-Natal: 1
North West: 1 (This is the first death in the North West Province).

“We express our deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and appreciate the health workers who treated these patients,” Mkhize added.

Research has shown that only 6% of known Covid-19 deaths in the Western Cape had no comorbidities. Over 65% of patients who died had more than 2 comorbidities.

Today, the Western Cape government approved the Whole of Government Covid-19 Hotspot Strategy for the City of Cape Town. This strategy plans to sets out how the Western Cape Government will utilise and coordinate its various government departments together with the City of Cape Town in one unified response to Covid-19 hotspots within the City of Cape Town.

“The Western Cape understands that a blunt, one-size-fit-all approach for the entire province, when some regions have few cases and others have high transmission, is neither sustainable nor effective. We need to be more flexible and innovative,” said Premier Alan Winde.

“We have therefore adopted an evidence based, data-led approach to our pandemic response, that drills down below sub-district level, to understand the transmission of the virus within particular geographical areas.”

This targeted hotspot plan includes the following:
• Health response- including case management, community screening and testing and the appropriate referral for Quarantine and Isolation
• Economic response- including assisting and mapping businesses, ensuring social distancing in the workplace and places of economic activity, and the following of our protocols developed for the workspace
• Safety response- that includes the SAPS and WCG and City of Cape Town traffic deployment and law enforcement
• Food security and humanitarian response- that includes our Departments of Agriculture, Social Development and relevant City initiatives
• Places and Spaces response- that is led by the Department of Human Settlement and its interventions in informal areas in particular
• Transport and Public Response- that includes interventions with respect to movement of people, and public transport, amongst others.

Picture: Pixabay

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Lucinda is a hard news writer who occasionally dabbles in lifestyle writing, and recent journalism graduate. She is a proud intersectional feminist, and is passionate about actively creating a world which is free of discrimination and inequality.