Covid-19 update: 34 new deaths confirmed in SA, latest global developments

As of Friday, 2 October, the cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases is 677,833 with 1,749 new cases identified, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has confirmed.

43 more Covid-19 related deaths were reported: 3 from Eastern Cape, 8 from KwaZulu-Natal, 8 from Gauteng, 7 from Northern Cape and 9 from the Free State.

Thus bringing the total number of Covid-19 related deaths to 16,909.

“We extend our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the healthcare workers that treated the deceased patients,” the Minister added.

Recoveries now stand at 611,044 which translates to a recovery rate of 90%.

4,229,709 tests have been conducted with 20,660 new tests confirmed since the last report.

Source: Health Department

Here are the latest developments in the coronavirus crisis:

Trump ‘positive’

US President Donald Trump tests positive for Covid-19, creating a bombshell a month before a tense US election which has been overshadowed by his handling of the pandemic in the world’s worst-hit country.

“We will get through this TOGETHER!” the 74-year-old writes on Twitter, when announcing he and First Lady Melania Trump, 50, have tested positive.

He is described by his doctor as feeling “well” and able to perform his duties while quarantining, but has called off a planned campaign rally.

Stocks slide

The Trump announcement compounds the downbeat mood on trading floors, with global equities sliding.

US futures sink as investors nervously await Wall Street’s reopening, and with key non-farm jobs data ready for announcement.

Investors were already feeling pessimistic over US lawmakers’ failure to agree a new US rescue package to cope with the coronavirus.

More than one million dead

By 1100 GMT Friday the coronavirus pandemic had killed at least 1,024,093 people around the world since emerging in China in late 2019, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.

More than 34.3 million cases have been officially diagnosed.

The United States has suffered the most deaths, with 207,816, followed by Brazil with 144,680, India with 99,773, Mexico with 78,078, and Britain with 42,202.

European deflation worsens

Eurozone inflation falls deeper into negative territory in September amid plummeting demand due to the coronavirus crisis.

The European Union’s Eurostat data agency says inflation fell to -0.3 percent last month, a drop from -0.2 percent in August and way off the official target of near two percent.

Mecca to reopen

Saudi Arabia will reopen the Muslim holy places for the year-round umrah pilgrimage on Sunday, scaled back and with extensive health precautions, seven months after coronavirus prompted its suspension.

The umrah, the pilgrimage that can be undertaken at any time, usually attracts millions of Muslims from across the globe each year.

It will be revived in three stages, with the initial phase seeing just 6,000 citizens and residents already within the kingdom allowed to take part each day.

Lebanon lockdowns

Lebanon is to put 111 villages and towns nationwide on stay-at-home lockdown for a week from Sunday after a series of record novel coronavirus daily infection rates.

The country has recorded 40,868 cases since February.

Cases have spiked in the aftermath of a massive explosion at the Beirut port on August 4 that killed more than 190 people and overwhelmed the capital’s health services, with thousands of wounded.

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