SABC staff in Kimberley will be placed under quarantine after a reporter tested positive for the coronavirus. The office in the Northern Cape will also be closed.
SABC staff member tests positive
According to the Citizen, SABC spokesperson Mmoni Seapolelo confirmed that one of their staff members tested positive.
“The SABC can confirm that we have one confirmed case of coronavirus at our Northern Cape provincial office. As a precautionary measure, we will close the Kimberley office and all employees based in that office will also be quarantined. The employee concerned is under quarantine and will be monitored,” said Seapolelo.
This comes as South Africans prepare for a nationwide lockdown taking effect from midnight on Thursday 26 March.
More than 900 coronavirus cases in SA
On Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation saying that the total number of coronavirus cases increased to more than 900.
Later, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize provided the nation with an exact number, saying it has indeed escalated to a total of 927 cases. This means that the number increased by 218 in just one day.
“We fear that it may rise much higher than this,” Ramaphosa added.
Ramaphosa himself on Thursday tested negative for coronavirus after what could consider a scare. Cabinet ministers Naledi Pandor and Ayanda Dlodlo are both undergoing self-isolation after many social engagements, proving that the coronavirus can affect anyone, anytime, anywhere.
The latest provincial breakdown of coronavirus cases as of Thursday are as follows:
- Gauteng now has a total of 409 confirmed cases;
- The Western Cape now has a total of 229 confirmed cases;
- KwaZulu-Natal has 134 cases;
- Free State has 49 cases;
- North West now has five confirmed coronavirus cases;
- Mpumalanga has nine cases;
- Limpopo has six cases;
- The Eastern Cape has five cases;
- The Northern Cape has two cases; and
- There are 79 unallocated cases.
The Northern Cape was registered as having two cases on Thursday.
Mkhize cites ‘administrative’ difficulties
Mkhize also addressed some “administrative” difficulties regarding the unallocated cases:
“South Africans would have noted that as the number of confirmed cases increase, some cases were unallocated by province, age or gender. This is because the NICD not only has the responsibility of analysing data from each laboratory but has found itself searching for the missing patient information of the confirmed cases,” said Mkhize.
“This has proven to be an administrative burden that, if not rectified, will hamper our efforts to immediately be in contact with patients who have tested positive, determine whether they require hospitalisation or can be treated in self-quarantine and more importantly trace all other individuals that they have been in direct contact with,” he added.