Health Minister Zweli Mkhize revised the death toll figures and caseload following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Good Friday address. Mkhize confirmed that more than 2 000 South Africans had been infected with COVID-19 and that 24 of those cases had bee fatal.
Ramaphosa, during his Good Friday message earlier in the day, announced that the COVID-19 death toll has risen to 20 in South Africa.
Ramaphosa joined an online Good Friday liturgy led by the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba.
This comes one day after the president announced a lockdown extension of two weeks until the end of April.
COVID-19 numbers and death toll as of Friday 10 April
Ramaphosa said there is a shadow hanging over our world as we commemorate Easter this year.
“We are in the grip of a pandemic the likes of which we have not seen for over a hundred years. The coronavirus continues to spread, leaving devastation in its wake. More than a million people are infected. Over 90 000 have lost their lives,” he said.
“In the rich countries of the North and the developing South, governments struggle to cope with rising infections. In South Africa, nearly 2 000 people have become infected with the virus, and 20 have tragically lost their lives,” he added.
The exact number of COVID-19 cases announced on Thursday evening stood at 1 934.
Lockdown extension
Ramaphosa announced that the nation-wide lockdown that has been in effect for the past two weeks will be extended until the end of the month. This to further combat the spread of COVID-19.
“I also announced a range of measures we have put in place to protect our economy, to protect those at risk of infection, to care for the sick and to support those in need. This is a time of great uncertainty for us all,” he said.
“Many of us are anxious about our health and the health of our children. We worry how we will be able to make ends meet or if we will have jobs to go back to. The poorest of the poor worry where their next meal will come from,” he said.
Ramaphosa, in his speech, encouraged and uplifted the country saying that we will overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
“But we South Africans are a resilient people. We endured the worst excesses of a dark past and were able to emerge, united and strong. The virtues of courage, of optimism and of compassion carried us along the path to freedom, and they are what sustain us today,” Ramaphosa added.
