[ad_1]
By Samkelo Mtshali 
7h ago
Durban – HEALTH Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize gave a reassuring account of the country’s fight against Covid-19, telling Radio Islam International on Wednesday that South Africa could soon move to level 1 of the national blockade in question of days.
This comes as the country’s Covid-19 infection rate has slowed during alert level 2 of the lockdown, although the country currently has more than 640,000 positive cases and more than 15,000 Covid-19-related deaths since the first case. of Covid-19 in South Africa. Shores was discovered in early March.
“We will have to go to level one and get closer to normal activities. We hope that we can still contain the numbers and the last two weeks have been very encouraging without a rebound and we hope that if we go to the next level the rebound will be less, “said Mkhize.
He said caution must still be exercised, particularly in terms of maintaining measures regarding large gatherings, but it is necessary to start opening up more economic activities so that the country’s severely hit economy can get back on its feet.
Mkhize said that while it has not yet been decided when exactly the country will move to level 1 with the matter still under discussion, President Cyril Ramaphosa in the “next few days” will address and give the country a sense of direction.
He added that even as the country moves to level 1 lockdown, precautionary measures such as wearing masks in public spaces, social distancing, hand washing and disinfectants would continue and people should get used to it as the new normal. .
“We will be preparing for people to start moving to the next level and when that is announced, we will move to that level, but it is not decided yet,” Mkhize said.
He said that, with the country currently at Tier 2, South Africa has now outpaced the rise as the months of June, July and August were the worst for the country, as predicted by various models.
“We want to thank all South Africans for paying attention to our precautionary measures, we believe they would have made a contribution, as the use of masks, hand sanitizers, hand washing and social distancing have helped a lot to contain the infection. ”Mkhize said.
Since South Africa is among the top five countries with the highest infection rate, Mkhize said this was due to the relaxation of the lockdown and the opening up of economic activities that had caused people to start moving with the virus causing a sharp increase. from about 40,000 infections to now more than 640,000 infections.
“However, we have seen the numbers decrease and there are many factors to do with that. One of the main factors is that we have embarked on these containment measures, ”said Mkhize.
However, Mkhize warned that South Africa was not out of the woods yet as infections may still increase, as is now the case in countries such as Spain, the United States, Iran and Korea.
Political Bureau
[ad_2]
