President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation this evening on the Covid-19 crisis facing the country.

Minister in the Presidency Jackson Mthembu said this morning: ‘During the day we will inform the media and the nation of the exact time when the President will make the address.’

Ramaphosa postponed a scheduled address to the nation last night to continue an intensive meeting with select Cabinet colleagues who form the national command council on Covid-19. The meeting was expected to go on well into the night.

Coronavirus cases in South Africa rose yesterday to 274, 208 (76%) of which had a history of travel from an area where Covid-19 is circulating, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases. So far, 9 315 people have been tested.

Gauteng has 132 cases, the Western Cape 88, KwaZulu-Natal 36, Free State 9, Mpumalanga 6, Eastern Cape 2 and Limpopo 1.

In other virus-related news in South Africa:

  • News24 reported that African Christian Democratic Party leader Rev Kenneth Meshoe had been tested for Covid-19 after having participated in a religious gathering in the Free State attended by five international guests who subsequently tested positive for the virus; and
  • City Press said in a report that it had had sight of a Treasury memorandum warning that ‘should authorities fail to act decisively and boldly the spread of Covid-19 would likely to develop into a crisis that will wreck stock markets and badly hurt the already paralysed economy’.

Globally:

  • The global death toll reached 14 600 yesterday, with 330 000 confirmed cases;
  • Italy reported 651 deaths, bringing the total close to 5 500;
  • More than a billion people in India have been asked to stay indoors for 14-hours to try to combat the virus;
  • New York mayor Bill de Blasio said the city was about 10 days away from major shortages of vital medical supplies;
  • Germany expanded measures to try to contain the virus, including banning public gatherings of more than two people;
  • Australia, where about 80% of the country’s more than 700 cases have come from returned travellers, or people who have been in contact with them, is to close its borders to all foreigners who aren’t permanent residents;
  • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the country: ‘If you don’t do it responsibly… we will have to bring forward further measures.’;
  • AFP reported that a French doctor caring for coronavirus patients had died of the illness; and
  • Emirates airline announced it would suspend all passenger flights by 25 March.

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