South Africa’s tally of coronavirus cases has gone up to 24 from 16 on Friday, Mar. 13, 2020, a statement from the Minister of Health Dr. Zweli Mkhize revealed. The are eight (8) new cases of people who have tested positive in SA to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Breakdown of eight new Covid-19 incidents:
Gauteng: 4
- A 39 year old female who had travelled to Switzerland and Austria
- A 50 year old male who had travelled to Austria
- A 21 year old female who had travelled to Italy
- A 57 year old male who had travelled to Switzerland
KwaZulu-Natal: 2
- A 79 year old male who had travelled to Greece and Italy
- A 52 year old male who had travelled to Switzerland
West Cape: 2
- A 50 year old male who had travelled to Switzerland and Austria
- A 46 year old male who had travelled to Italy
Because of the rapid rise in cases reported in Europe, mainly Italy, the World Health Organization (WHO) has now declared Europe the epicenter of the pandemic.
At the moment, the death count for Covid-19 since the outbreak of the epidemic is over 5, 000 globally.
In its commitments to combat the epidemic worldwide, WHO and its partners have set up a “first-of-its-kind” response fund. On its Mar. 13, 2020 media statement it [WHO] said:
“COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund will raise money from a wide range of donors to support the work of the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners to help countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund… enables private individuals, corporations and institutions anywhere in the world to come together to directly contribute… and has been created by the United Nations Foundation and the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, together with WHO.”