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The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 has increased by 165, with no new deaths reported, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced Tuesday afternoon.
The country has now registered 3,465 confirmed cases of the virus, with the death toll still at 58.
According to Mkhize, the number of tests had increased, with 5 427 carried out in the last 24 hours. The number of tests carried out to date is 126,937.
Gauteng remains the epicenter with 1,199 confirmed cases followed by the Western Cape with 1,010.
Mkhize, who was in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday, said the rapid increase in cases in the province was a concern.
According to statistics provided Tuesday, the Eastern Cape recorded 345 cases, an increase of 35 compared to Monday’s statistics.
Five people have died in the province.
“The greatest risk of spread, which has been identified, is the cultural practices that occur at funerals. We have relationships with the provincial executive led by Prime Minister Oscar Mabuyane together with the MEC for health Sindiswa Gomba,” Mkhize said.
“We immediately made the decision to urgently deploy more medical experts, including epidemiologists, analysts and field consultants, to strengthen the provincial team led by Dr. Kerrigan McCarthy of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases.”
He added that the World Health Organization was also helping by deploying more doctors and experts.
“We have also deployed senior officials from the national Department of Health to adequately audit available personal protective equipment and other requirements. This is to ensure the safety and adequate protection of our leading health workers.”
Gomba said in a statement Sunday that the Eastern Cape wanted to put a moratorium on the use of tents and food at funerals as people continued to break the 50-person blockade limit at such events in the province.
“Why [the] The number of positive cases related to funerals is increasing, we have to do things differently, “added Gomba.
According to the national health department, the Eastern Cape had recorded five deaths so far and 25 recoveries.
Earlier this month, a retired Port Elizabeth nurse became the province’s first coronavirus fatality.
The 66-year-old woman died at Livingstone Hospital after being in a coma for about a week, Gomba told HeraldLive.
She reportedly attended a funeral in KwaDwesi two weeks before being admitted to the hospital and was among mourners who have since tested positive.
As of Monday night, there were 111 cases of Covid-19 in correctional service facilities across the country.
The first prison was the East London Correctional Center in the Eastern Cape, where a staff member reportedly fell ill after attending a funeral in Port Elizabeth.
The department’s spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo, confirmed that the cases in the Eastern Cape remained the same, with 31 officials and 56 inmates infected.
The 56 inmates and 30 officials are from East London Prison, while an official at St Albans Correctional Center in Port Elizabeth also tested positive.
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