As speculation mounts that the 21-day lockdown may be extended next week, President Cyril Ramaphosa said an assessment of the effectiveness of shutting down the country would be possible ‘in a few days’ time’.

‘We will be able to make a proper, if you like, scientific assessment, in a few days’ time, to see how well this lockdown is serving the people of our country,’ he said.

The effectiveness of the lockdown had still to be assessed.

He said: ‘We are still doing an assessment about the effectiveness of the lockdown. In terms of compliance, we are finding that many of our people throughout the country are abiding by the lockdown, and its regulations. There are pockets, here and there, of people who are still getting on with their lives as though there is no coronavirus.’

As the country’s cases rose to 1 845, with 18 deaths – and 63 776 people having been tested so far – attention focused on the indefinite closure to the public of Netcare’s St Augustine’s Hospital in Durban, where five of the province’s eight Covid-19 related deaths occurred, and 66 people tested positive for the virus at the hospital, including 48 nurses. The 464-bed facility was described by Netcare as ‘one of the flagships’ of the group. Only one ward is to remain open, as a quarantine unit for the 48 nurses and 18 patients who have tested positive for Covid-19.

Netcare, which denied claims that medical staff and employees were not given appropriate personal protective equipment, announced that acclaimed epidemiologist Professor Salim Abdool Karim would lead an investigation into the outbreak.

KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu said the hospital would be reopened once the department was satisfied it was safe, according to TimesLive.

In other virus-related news

  • The World Trade Organisation warned that the pandemic could trigger the deepest global recession in generations;
  • Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said Prime Minister Boris Johnson remained in intensive care but was sitting up and engaging with the clinical team. Total deaths in British hospitals rose to 7 097, a record increase of 938 in a day;
  • The US recorded the most coronavirus deaths in a single day, with 1 736 fatalities reported on Tuesday. New York recorded the largest single-day toll, for the second day in a row, with 779 deaths; and
  • The months-long lockdown in Wuhan, where the pandemic began, was lifted.

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