Covid-19 cases in prisons rises to 2,311

The department of correctional services confirmed a total number of Covid-19 cases in prisons which stands at 2,311, comprising of 1,084 officials and 1,227 inmates as of Sunday, 28 June.

In a statement, the department also said there were 617 active cases of Covid-19 following a recovery rate of 72.39%.

Covid-19 Cases – Image: Supplied.

The 56 additional cases of officials are from:

• Eastern Cape – 23
• Gauteng – 12
• Free State – 8
• Northern Cape – 8
• Limpopo – 6
• Mpumalanga – 6
• North West – 6
• Western Cape – 6
• KwaZulu-Natal – 1

The 13 additional cases of inmates emanate from:

• Eastern Cape – 11
• Gauteng – 2

Recoveries – Image: Supplied.

Regional Breakdown – Image: Supplied.

Meanwhile, the health department warned of a surge in Covid-19 cases, especially in metropolitan areas such as Gauteng.

As of Sunday, 28 June 2020, the cumulative number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa is 138,134. A further 43 Covid-19 related deaths have been recorded, which brings the total deaths to 2,456.

1,567,084 tests have been completed in total, of which 38,075 new tests are reported. The number of recoveries is 68,925.

In a statement on Sunday evening, the department said: “We believe that within the coming days, Gauteng will emerge with the highest Covid-19 numbers. Factors contributing to this trend are inward migration; the large population (especially in metros like Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane); increased congregating which spurs cluster outbreaks; and the level to which people are able to adapt to new behaviours such as social distancing and the wearing of masks.”

It is it “anticipated that while every province will unfortunately witness an increase in their numbers, areas where there is high economic activity will experience an exponential rise – beginning with Gauteng and Western Cape and followed by Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal”.

The statement indicated that the reduction to Level 3 meant that a large number of people moved towards high-density population centres as economic activities resumed.

This surge of human movement also brought with it a high rate on infections: “It was therefore inevitable that there would be cluster outbreaks as infections spilt over from communities into places of congregation such as mines, factories, taxis and busses,” the statement read.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.