Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has told doctors that he expects the number of Covid-19 infections in South Africa to reach 200 by Friday.
"Last night at 8 pm, we had 150 cases and by tomorrow we are expecting the figure to be 200," Mkhize said as he met with doctors and nurses at the South African Medical Association (Sama) in Pretoria.
A jump of 50 cases or more would confirm that an exponential pattern of increase in the infection is now entrenched in South Africa.
"This is a hard combat time. t's up to each one of us to make sure we reduce the fatalities," Mkhize said.
So far, South Africa has seen no deaths from the virus, with no cases reported in the Eastern Cape as yet.
"We are going to have to face up to a number of lessons from various countries, but we can behave in a way that can change the course of this infection," the Minister said.
"We are monitoring the behaviour of the virus. We need to face reality. We must learn from other countries but let’s make our own history."
He has expressed concern in recent days about the growing number of local transmissions. The first recorded cases all involved patients who had returned from high-risk countries abroad.
Mkhize said the government was determined to trace the contacts of those who have tested positive to map and curb the spread of the disease.
"We have recruited close to 2,000 tracers who are coordinating the system so that we are ultimately able to do this quickly," he said.
He also confirmed that the government had reached out to the private health sector, to use private institutions as places of quarantine.
- African News Agency (ANA)
