Deaths rose in the Eastern Cape by 400 yesterday to 1 345 as senior provincial officials warned that the province anticipated close to 9 000 ‘unavoidable’ deaths.
Cases grew in South Africa by 13 150 to a cumulative total of 394 948 (with 229 175 recoveries). Deaths rose by 572 to 5 940.
Deaths in the Eastern Cape rose in a day from 945 to 1 345. The highest recorded deaths are in the Western Cape (2 752), followed by Gauteng (1 156) and KwaZulu-Natal (477).
Officials of a newly created project management unit in the Eastern Cape told Parliament’s Health Committee that they predicted 9 000 ‘unavoidable’ deaths in the province, warning that without additional capacity the number would be higher.
The province’s public hospitals would need 1 796 intensive care unit (ICU) beds for peak demand, but had only 230 critical care beds now.
News24 quoted Ian Sanne, a member of the unit, as saying that, at its peak, active symptomatic cases in the province would rise to approximately 90 000.
‘There is an anticipated 9 000 deaths in the province. Albeit unfortunate and a very sad term, these are unavoidable deaths. These are deaths that will occur despite intervention and relate to the nature of the disease. However, we are concerned that if we do not increase the capacity in the Eastern Cape, the number of deaths will exceed 9 000,’ he said.
On the shortage of resources, he said: ‘Even if we only take 50% of the demand into account, we already have a substantive deficit in medical care capacity.’
Cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma drew sharp criticism when she presented her department’s adjusted budget to a mini-plenary of the National Assembly yesterday.
Chronic failure and mismanagement of local government – the subject of Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu’s recent annual report – dominated much of the debate.
Dlamini-Zuma said: ‘We cannot pretend that all municipalities are in good shape and simply require complementary plans, capabilities and capacities. The Auditor-General’s report is a reminder of that reality.’
But Democratic Alliance MP Haniff Hoosen rounded on Dlamini-Zuma, saying: ‘Instead of fighting the spread of the virus and protecting our citizens, instead of fighting the high rate of corruption and looting, our Minister, Dlamini-Zuma, has been fighting against zol and alcohol.
‘The corrupt politicians and officials in government departments are making every effort to ensure that this disaster does not go to waste,’ he said. ‘They are milking the state for every penny and not a single person has been thrown in prison for this, because our minister is busy fighting zol and alcohol.’
The government was compelled yesterday to correct a Twitter blunder, in which an official tweet said the ban on alcohol and cigarettes would endure for the remainder of the lockdown.
A subsequent tweet a few hours later said: ‘This account posted a tweet earlier today which said that the ban on the sale of alcohol and cigarettes would remain in place throughout the lockdown period. This is incorrect. The sale of alcohol and tobacco products is prohibited under the current Level 3 regulations.’
In other virus-related news
- President Donald Trump warned the pandemic may ‘get worse before it gets better’, and urged Americans to wear face masks. Having previously disparaged the wearing of masks – and suggesting people should be allowed the freedom to choose not to do so – Trump appeared to change his tune yesterday when he said: ‘We’re asking everybody that when you are not able to socially distance, wear a mask, get a mask. Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact, they’ll have an effect and we need everything we can get’;
- California, with more than 409 000 infections, has overtaken New York as the state with most confirmed cases. Florida, with nearly 380 000 cases, is in third place;
- Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has again tested positive for coronavirus, more than two weeks after he first revealed he had Covid-19 on 7 July. An official statement said that despite testing positive for a third time, the president was ‘still in good condition’. Brazil is the second-worst affected country with more than 2.1 million confirmed cases; and
- The number of coronavirus infections has risen to more than 15 million worldwide, with more than 618 000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.