Covid-19 update: 2,541 new cases take SA’s cumulative total to 589,886

A cumulative total of 589,886 confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa has been recorded, with 2,541 new cases identified on Monday, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has announced.

The country has also recorded 143 new deaths – 50 from Eastern Cape, 14 from Gauteng, 14 from KwaZulu-Natal, 3 from Northern Cape, 5 from Free State, 25 from Mpumalanga and 32 from Western Cape.

This brings the total Covid-19 cumulative deaths to 11,982.

“We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers who treated the deceased. The recoveries now stand at 477,671, which translates to a recovery rate of 80%,” said Mkhize.

Source: Health department

Misinformation and disinformation around Covid-19 continues to fuel the negative stigma attached to testing positive for the virus, and this needs to be challenged.

This emerged from a roundtable discussion on the stigma attached to contracting the novel coronavirus, and the disinformation that fans the flames, hosted by the United Nations on Monday.

United Nations Resident Coordinator in South Africa Nardos Bakele-Thomas said it was sad that Covid-19 pandemic had created an environment for misinformation to grow.

The “scourge of stigma” has been fueled by misinformation and needs to be fought, Bakele-Thomas said.

Panelists all agreed that the stigma attached to Covid-19 was damaging and would lead to people being reluctant to disclose their status, or even be afraid to seek treatment if necessary.

It is for this reason that the UN has been calling for solidarity, to push back against Covid-19 stigma.

Referring to the negative effects of stigma, Gushwell Brooks, of the South African Human Rights Commission, said one only had to look at South Africa’s history.

Brooks spoke about HIV/Aids plight which continues to plague the country and makes people reluctant to either know or share their status because of negative sentiments towards people with the virus.

In June, News24 reported that the stigma surrounding Covid-19 affected a Middelburg woman who was forced to leave her home after testing positive.

Nomawethu* told News24 that she did not know how or where she contracted the virus, but when she found out about her status, she immediately called her sister for comfort.

Instead, her sister told her that her clothes would be waiting for her at the gate.

“I had no one. The word spread that I was infected and no one wanted to help me. I was even threatened. I could see that if I stayed, I would be victimised. I don’t know what people would have done. I packed my bags and moved to Cradock to get help,” she said.

Since recovering, Nomawethu said people still turn away or run to the other side of the street when they see her. People don’t want to be around her.

Speaking about the spread of misinformation and disinformation, Media Monitoring Africa director William Bird explained that groups had used the Covid-19 crisis to drive their own agenda.

They had done this by deliberately putting out disinformation to fuel stigma and create fear.

He added that there wasn’t a “better time for people who want to disinform and undermine democracy”.

However, it is of the utmost importance that misinformation and disinformation is challenged and corrected to protect fundamental rights.

*Not her real name.

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