Health Minister Zweli Mkhize last evening emphasised the importance of building up South Africa’s stock of ventilators.
The government had been in discussions with medical device manufacturers.
‘We need them to start building additional stock of ventilators. We want to be ahead of time,’ he said.
His statement came as South Africa’s positive cases rose by 46 to 1 353. The government said 39 500 people had been tested so far. Mkhize said four South Africans had died of Covid-19 so far, with a potential fifth death still to be verified.
The National Institute of Communicable Diseases said last evening: ‘Due to differences in reporting methods, retrospective data consolidation, and reporting delays, the number of new cases may not always add up sequentially. We are constantly cleaning & deduplicating the data to ensure quality. As of today we recorded 46 new cases.’
Critical attention remains focused on policing of the lockdown.
New24 reported that two healthcare workers at Bongani Regional Hospital in Welkom were injured after police opened fire with rubber bullets on a group protesting about transportation issues at the facility.
EWN reported that at least nine Alexandra residents were now under quarantine after coming into contact with a resident who tested positive for Covid-19.
In other virus-related news
- The BBC reported last evening that there were more than 800 000 cases worldwide, with 38 000 dead. Some 170 000 had recovered
- Spain recorded 849 new deaths related to coronavirus, the highest number in 24 hours in the country since the outbreak began. The national death toll is now at 8 189, according to the health ministry. Spain is the worst-hit country in Europe after Italy;
- The government in Egypt projected messages of unity, and solidarity with those combating the pandemic, on to Giza’s Great Pyramid. The messages, in Arabic and English, said: ‘Thank you to those keeping us safe’, ‘Stay at home’ and ‘Stay safe’; and
- Grocery sales in Britain this month beat all previous records as shoppers stocked up for a long period at home, according to consumer analysts Kantar. The BBC reported that the busiest spell was 16-19 March, when 88% of households visited a food store, adding up to 42 million extra trips across four days.