CAPE TOWN - The death toll due to Covid-19 in South Africa is 25 with 2028 positive infections, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Saturday.
This marks an additional death since Friday, that of a 61 year-old male from the Western Cape said Mkhize in a statement.
Mkhize described KwaZulu-Natal's death toll as 'high' saying that more than 6 people had died at the same hospital.
" We need to get into why this is so. We have now decided that the hospital needs to be closed down and an investigation needs to be launched," said Mkhize.
He also spoke on matters surrounding testing. " If you go to a private Dr/ private lab for a test you will pay. If the recommendation came from a public hospital you will not need to pay for testing," he said.
Mkhize says that the measures taken by government to reduce gatherings was also yielding results. "When we reduce large gatherings (Church, Football, etc) all of this reduced the spread. The number of new infections is not increasing as much as it would’ve been. The borders have also been closed preventing new imported infections," said Mkhize
On Thursday President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a two week extension to the national lockdown.
The President’s decision followed a meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council and consultations that the President would have held with various social partners .
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