Updated Mar. 21, 2020 | 13:15

The number of cases reported in South Africa (SA) are stacking up. The latest figure shows 240 of cases spread in just seven of the nine provinces. These are the second-worst recorded cases in Africa behind Egypt with 285 as of Saturday Mar. 21.

SA has no death reports yet. However, the government is escalating control interventions on a continuous bases.

All alcohol selling outlets are no longer allowed to operate beyond 6 p.m. in the evening until Saturday, effected yesterday. On Sundays, they are supposed to shut their doors by 1 p.m. in accordance with the recent state decree.

Moreover, Police Minister Bheki Cele said a gathering of more than 50 people in restaurants and pubs or one place is prohibited.

While Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula emphasized the ban of foreign travellers. He said they will not be “allowed to disembark” and repatriation will take effect as soon as they arrive in the country. Any flight that lands from high risk countries, he added, will be redirected back.

Meanwhile the Departments of Home Affairs and Health will screen all returning SA citizens from abroad and quarantine them according to the stipulated guidelines, Mbalula asserted.

The World Health Organization (WHO) sets a quarantine window of 14 days and SA domesticated it to 21 (days) in the country.

Covid-19 Spread and Deaths

Yesterday, Italy clocked 627 deaths within 24 hours. A country record never seen in a single day caused by a pandemic.

Italy alone accounts for 4, 032 of the global 10, 496 total deaths from Covid-19. It has basically surpassed China’s 3, 255.

Meanwhile, Iran and Spain have crossed over the 1, 000 mark of death cases recorded.

Surely, the pandemic is entrenching a crashing foothold in Europe and China’s containment efforts are starting to bear fruit with zero (new) local cases reported on Thursday. The only significant cases were external or imported ones, consisting of travellers returning home.

Small wonder most countries begun stepping up travel-restriction controls. As Europe battles the outbreak, citizens are bearing the brunt of increased lockdowns and are left with very little to do. Daily. Artists are filling up the void of idling and households with online content and/or concerts by musicians and disc jockeys (DJs).

Scramble of Supplies

Shortage of supplies is one of the major challenges facing Europe, United States of America (U.S.A.), Africa and countries in other continents. For instance, a there are not enough stockpiles for masks, body-protective gears, medical goggles, ventilators, beds, testers, et cetera.

Experts advise that medical equipment and other supplies would help slow down the spread and reduce unnecessary deaths. Preserving lives is paramount to every country.

As stranglehold of the Covid-19 unleashes its brutal rage on a global scale, employees are beginning to work from home where possible while some companies may go bust. A regrettable unrelenting reality.

In the same vein, Ebrahim Patel, the Minister of Trade and Industry in SA, was quoted by the SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) saying that companies under distress will receive relief. Employer-employee schemes to assist workers, he continued, are being explored. 

In the mean time, gatherings of people in a single place in SA is limited to “100”, President Cyril Ramaphosa evoked from the emergency statutes. Whereas Ramaphosa’s counterpart in the U.S.A., Donald Trump, placed a permissible 10 at most.

The West, i.e. Europe and U.S.A. in particular, urged non-essential employees to stay home. Among other mechanisms, that is how China flattened the climbing graph of the troublesome infections and deaths.

In South Africa, the shortage question has led to panic buying and hoarding of essential goods in some quarters of the society. Consequently, causing imbalance and disturbance in the supply-chain sector.

So much so the authorities had to step in with limitations of purchases and equitable distribution of goods in the country. The SA government is flexing its muscles by restricting bumping up of prices on most sought-after goods.

Price Controls

Here is a list of on-demand products in check:

• toilet paper
• hand sanitiser
• facial masks
• disinfectants and cleaners
• surgical gloves
• surgical masks
• disinfectant wipes
• antiseptic liquids
• all-purpose cleaners
• baby formula
• disposable nappies
• bleach
• cooking oils
• wheat flour
• rice
• maize meal
• pasta
• sugar
• long-life milk
• canned and frozen vegetables
• canned, frozen and fresh meat, chicken or fish
• bottled water
• testing, prevention and treatment prices

Given a rush of grabbing some of these valuables in bulk during the novel coronavirus pandemic, it remains to be seen how effective the controls will be in ensuring sufficient supply to all citizens irrespective of economic strata or geographic locations.

So much so government promised to increase water supply in remote areas to give substance to the clarion call of proper hygiene and washing of hands frequently.

A dormant problem of income erosion and depletion of essential needs has not been touched so far. There might be an explosion of anger when it finally surfaces. The country has not put thought to that debate. Of course, there are suppressed mummers here and there.

Data from Statistics SA show that income inequalities and spacial disparities are commonplace in South Africa notwithstanding the historic dawn of democracy in 1994.

Provincial Breakdown in SA

The Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize said over 60% of the citizens are likely to contract the coronavirus epidemic. For this point, the country has not fully experienced the terminal horrors of this lethal pandemic.

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has tested 7, 245 and 7, 185 came out negative. With 240 Covid-19 positive patients, there are zero deaths at this point.

Although provinces like the North West and Northern Cape are yet to report a single case, the other six have.

Below are provincial statistics of infected persons compiled by the NICD on Mar. 20:

• Gauteng: 125
• Western Cape: 74
• KwaZulu-Natal: 27
• Free State: 7
• Mpumalanga: 5
• Limpopo: 1
• Eastern Cape: 1