The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that over the past few weeks and months the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths has escalated dramatically, and the number of confirmed cases surpassed one million overnight.
"The number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a media briefing on Tuesday.
"As we enter the fourth month since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, I'm deeply concerned about the rapid escalation and global spread of infection," he said.
"Over the past five weeks, we have witnessed a near exponential growth in the number of new cases reaching almost every country, territory and area. The number of deaths has more than doubled in the past week.
As it stands, the virus has reached 1 016 330 confirmed cases and 53 239 deaths across the world.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Thursday has announced that the confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in South Africa have increased to 1,462, up from 1,353 on Tuesday.
“The total number of those who have tested today stands at 1,462 and so there has been quite an increase. But even with all that increase, we have indicated that there is a restraint in the numbers, which we think is an impact of the lockdown.
"The fact that we have closed the borders, there isn’t a lot of movement with people coming from outside; the fact that people are in their homes means that there is not a lot of mixing of people in large volumes and large numbers,” Mkhize said in Bloemfontein.
