Health Minister Zweli Mkhize visiting the Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in East London on Tuesday as part of a Covid-19 tour of the Eastern Cape. Image: Supplied
With the number of Covid-19 cases in the country at 3,635, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has expressed concern about the increasing number of positive cases being reported in the Eastern Cape.
Speaking after a tour of health facilities in the province, Mkhize said the number of confirmed cases in South Africa now stands at 3,635 with 377 of these in the Eastern Cape.
The province has seen a double-digit percentage increase in reported cases over one day. On Monday it reported its first five coronavirus-related deaths. This influenced Mkhize’s decision to visit the province, one of South Africa’s most impoverished regions.
The minister did not report any further Covid-19 deaths in the country on Tuesday and Wednesday, but again warned of practices around funerals that could be contributing to the spread of the virus.
“Today [Tuesday] we visited the Eastern Cape where we have observed a rapid rise in the number of confirmed cases, and this raised a concern,” he said in a statement.
“The biggest risk of spread that has been identified [are] the cultural practices occurring at funerals.
“We engaged with the provincial executive led by Premier Oscar Mabuyane together with the Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba,” he added.
“We immediately took a decision to urgently deploy more medical experts including senior epidemiologists, analysts and field consultants to reinforce the provincial team, led by Dr Kerrigan McCarthy from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).”
In a statement on Saturday night, Mkhize said the behaviour of mourners at funerals could be contributing to the spread of Covid-19.
He added that the health department had observed risky behaviour from people attending funerals (even with the limited number of 50) “because of the cultural behaviours or rituals that are performed at such funerals”.
“Social distancing remains one of the key strategies to curb this pandemic. Unfortunately, we have observed that people hug and hold each other at funerals (as part of giving comfort), they cry and cough next to each other, pass a spade to each other to pour the sand, they wash hands in one basin, and have a buffet meal where they use the same spoons to dish up,” said Mkhize.
“We wish to warn South Africans, if you attend a funeral and practise any of the above behaviour, you are at risk to be infected to Covid-19. The reality is there could be one person at that funeral who is Covid-19 positive and may not be aware.
“We emphasise that if you do not have to, do not attend a funeral. When you do, practise maximum hygiene, ie, wash your hands, social distancing and wear a cloth mask.”
WHO help
Mkhize said the health department has also secured the assistance of the World Health Organisation in deploying more clinicians and experts in the Eastern Cape and other parts of the country. He noted that the department has also started sending senior officials to do “proper audits” of available personal protective equipment and other items used in the fight against the spread of Covid-19.
“This is to ensure the safety and adequate protection of our health workers who are at the forefront. We reiterate that no health worker should be exposed to the risk of infection. They must all be adequately trained on infection prevention and control (IPC) and [must] be protected at all times,” he said.
The total number of Covid-19 tests conducted to date in South Africa now stands at 133,774, of which 6,868 were done in the past 24 hours.
Gauteng still has the highest number of confirmed cases in the country, now at 1224.
The Western Cape has now also surpassed the 1 000 mark, with 1 079 cases.
KwaZulu-Natal has the third highest number of cases, at 758, with the highest number of Covid-19 deaths.
The Eastern Cape has the fourth highest number of confirmed cases as well as deaths, followed by the Free State, Limpopo, North West, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.
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