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South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has dissolved the government’s scientific advisory committee on the coronavirus.
Some members of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19 were informed by letter this week that the group is being reconfigured, Francois Venter of the University of the Witwatersrand said in a text message on Saturday.
The dissolution follows Mkhize’s announcement on Sept. 14 that he would reconstitute the committee, News24 reported, citing the letter. Others who have been informed of the change include Angelique Coetzee, the president of the South African Medical Association, he said.
The committee, headed by Salim Abdool Karim, was created earlier this year to advise Mkhize on how to handle the pandemic.
South Africa recorded 668,529 cases and 16,312 deaths as of Friday, giving it the highest number of infections in Africa. More than 4.1 million people have been tested, out of a population of 59 million. The rate of coronavirus infections has noticeably slowed in the last month.
The Health Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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