On Thursday, the Department of Health, under the tutelage of Dr Zweli Mkhize, reported four new cases of the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19 disease.

This brings the confirmed SA cases to 17. Curiously, the World Health Organization has declared Covid-19 a “pandemic” on Wednesday, Mar. 11, 2020.

Four New Cases by Province

Gauteng (1)

• A 43-year-old male who had travelled to New York via Dubao and returned to SA on 8 March.

Free State (1)

• A 32-year-old male who came into contact with a businessman – making this the first case of a local transmission.

Mpumalanga (1)

• A 27-year-old female who had travelled to the United States and returned on 7 March.

KwaZulu-Natal (1)

• A 38-year-old male from Durban who lives in Turkey, was visiting family in South Africa. He had Travelled to the UK and returned to SA on 7 March.

The Minister of Health media release also said:

“All patients are in self-quarantine and have mild to moderate symptoms… on symptomatic treatment.”

The Total Number of Recorded Cases: 17

• KwaZulu-Natal (8)
• Gauteng (6)
• Western Cape (1)
• Mpumalanga (1)
• Free State (1)

“Protea Hotel” Avails its Facility in Polokwane

As the number of cases are increasing almost daily, questions have been raised about the level of preparedness in SA to deal with the epidemic.

Although there are selected public hospitals to handle the Covid-19 patients, the anticipated spike might put a strain on the already laden health facilities.

News24 reported on Thursday Mar. 12 that:

“Protea Hotels has confirmed that one of its hotels in Polokwane, The Ranch Resort, will be used as a quarantine site under the Department of Health’s direction from Thursday.”