South Africa’s COVID-19 cases have reached 1505 on Friday, a jump of 43 new cases, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.
21 cases have been confirmed in the Eastern Cape.
The Minister said that two more people have died of the virus, bringing the total number of fatalities in the country to seven.
Clarifying the number of deaths, Mkhize said on Twitter that they were still awaiting confirmation on two deaths in KwaZulu-Natal.
Making the announcement at Khayelitsha Hospital in Cape Town on Friday afternoon, he said his department had conducted about 50,219 tests so far.
In the last 72 hours, three patients died from the novel coronavirus at Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital in Durban.
In a statement issued by Netcare, CEO Dr Richard Friedland said two of the patients were first admitted to the hospital on March 9 and 13 respectively, and the third patient on March 14.
He said the patients did not have a history of recent international travel or known contact with a person who was COVID-19 positive, nor did they present with any symptoms of the virus when they were screened on admission.
Friedland said they worked in close collaboration with the KwaZulu-Natal health department to take the precautionary decision to test all healthcare and support workers who may have come into contact with the three patients.
- African News Agency
