COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES | UberEats back online, but not to deliver food

April 6 2020 14:11

Game-changers: two inventions vital to the battle against Covid-19

When a Wits inventor walked off with an international prize late last year, he had no idea how important his invention would become as Covid-19 hit the world.

Michael Lucas, a PhD student in the school of mechanical engineering, had over the course of five years developed a metallised coating that can be added to surfaces in hospitals to make them capable of self-sanitising.

April 6 2020 13:22

Lockdown? Life continues as normal in some parts of the Eastern Cape

From boys illegally being circumcised to the elderly attending traditional ceremonies in their hundreds and budding sports stars honing their skills, life continues as normal in some rural areas in the Eastern Cape.

This is despite SA being on lockdown, a move that President Cyril Ramaphosa announced as a measure to flatten the curve as the world battles Covid-19, reports DispatchLIVE.

While there has been a general attempt to follow the rules of the lockdown in urban areas, that has not been the case in many rural areas. 

Congress of Traditional Leaders of SA (Contralesa) provincial secretary Nkosi Mkhanyiseli Dudumayo said they were deeply concerned as not only were villagers disobeying the president's orders, but they were putting their lives at risk as they might be infected with the respiratory illness.

April 6 2020 11:33

Sick Filipino sailor evacuated from ship off KZN coast

A Filipino sailor had to be evacuated from a bulk carrier off the coast of Richards Bay after falling ill on Saturday.

Jacques Kruger, National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) commander at Richards Bay, said his team was contacted by the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) with a report that a sailor needed to be removed from a ship near the KwaZulu-Natal coastal town after suffering a medical emergency not related to Covid-19.

After stringent checks by port security and the health department, a NSRI team, accompanied by paramedics, travelled to the ship via a sea rescue craft to remove the 31-year-old man. 

Kruger said: “The patient was secured into a stokes basket stretcher and transferred on to our sea rescue craft, and, in the care of the Netcare 911 rescue paramedics, he was brought to our sea rescue base without incident.

“He was then transported in a stable condition to hospital.”

April 6 2020 11:20

More than 160 South Africans repatriated and thousands still to come: Pandor

Just over 160 South Africans have been repatriated to SA since President Cyril Ramaphosa relaxed restrictions last week to allow South Africans stranded abroad to come back home.

Speaking to eNCA on Monday morning, international relations & co-operation minister Naledi Pandor said her department was trying its best to ensure that it used evacuation efforts by foreign governments, which are evacuating its citizens from SA, to return South Africans home.

“We have got a few people that are back home. We have had repatriation of over 163 citizens back into SA and with the help of SAA and various foreign governments, we are hoping to bring more and more South Africans who wish to come home back home,” Pandor said.

April 6 2020 11:08

Fair and Equitable Society withdraws shutdown brutality case

The non-governmental organisation (NGO) that took the government to court over alleged police and defence force brutality in enforcing the Covid-19 lockdown has withdrawn its case, after President Cyril Ramaphosa accused it of failing to provide admissible evidence.

The Fair and Equitable Society (FES) served a notice on lawyers for Ramaphosa and SA Police Force and SA National Defence Force ministers Bheki Cele and Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, respectively, on Sunday afternoon, that it was withdrawing the case, reports BusinessLIVE.

The case was due to be argued on Tuesday. FES has yet to comment publicly on the reasons for the withdrawal of its application, in which, among other things, it sought an order that alleged law enforcement brutality during the shutdown had violated the constitution.

April 6 2020 10:25

'Covid-19 has proven African countries can hold their own': Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the Covid-19 pandemic has proven that African countries can weather the storm in spite of healthcare discrepancies.

"This global pandemic has exposed the fragility of inward-looking and insular political, economic and social systems. It is leading some to call for ‘a new moral economy’ that has people and their welfare at its centre."

"In both their respective national responses and the continental effort, African countries can hold their own."

In his weekly newsletter Ramaphosa said the virus was so vicious that it attacked everyone, irrespective of race, class and gender.

"One thing we have learnt about the coronavirus over the last three months is that it does not respect borders. It has spread across Asia, Europe, North, Central and South America and Africa."

"Distinctions of wealth, poverty, nationality, race and class have been rendered meaningless as infections grow in developed and developing countries alike."

April 6 2020 09:26

WATCH | Lockdown fitness: Trainer embraces Covid-19 challenges

SA’s state of lockdown was announced on March 23 2020, and many South Africans started to wonder how they were going to stay fit if they couldn't go for a daily run, walk or cycle, or go to the gym.

Social media platforms were eventually full of posts with personal trainers trying to play their part by creating “home workouts”.

Personal trainer Abdullah Bayett has been sharing his fitness and strength training regimes.

Bayett, who runs SKR Martial Arts & Fitness Academy in Lenasia, Johannesburg, has approached the lockdown as a new challenge.

He has been recording a combination of fitness routines and sharing the videos with his members via WhatsApp to ensure they stay fit during the lockdown.

April 6 2020 09:15

WATCH | Zwelinzima Vavi posts 'sweaty' video, vows to fight Covid-19

The general secretary of the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), Zwelinzima Vavi, thanked South Africans for their messages of support as he continues to fight Covid-19.

He shared two videos over the weekend, one in which he appeared to be heavily sweaty, saying he was optimistic the deadly virus would not take him down.

“Corona has finally met its match. It stands no chance. None whatsoever. It is going to be defeated and chased out of this body. It will fall,” he said in a viral video.

On Sunday he complained about a heavy chest and lungs, and said he would have this checked by his doctors.

“They will check my levels of oxygen, I think I will be fine thereafter. I just need a lot of rest.”

April 6 2020 09:00

WATCH | All you need to know about attending a funeral during SA's #21daylockdown

Minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, has gazetted amendments to the regulations on the #SALockdown, including on the movement of people wanting to attend funerals.

Those wanting to attend funerals in other provinces will require a permit from a magistrate or police station commander, or a person designated by them.

A list of eligible people including partners, children, parents, children-in-law, siblings, grandparents and people who have close relations with the deceased were highlighted in Dlamini-Zuma's announcement.

April 6 2020 07:48

SA reaches 11th death as a result of Covid-19

Two patients in their 80s have died, bringing the death toll from Covid-19 to 11 in South Africa, health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Sunday night. Both patients had underlying medical conditions.

The country has now recorded 1,655 confirmed cases of Covid-19.

The total number of Covid-19 tests conducted so far is 56,873, an increase of 2,936 from those reported on Saturday.

One of the patients who died was an 82-year-old woman who was admitted to ICU on March 29, the minister said. She had a fever, shortness of breath, body pains, a dry cough and sore throat.

"She also had comorbidities that included hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol."

April 6 2020 - 07:23

SA brains come up with a nifty box to protect coronavirus frontline staff

Emergency doctors at Joburg's Charlotte Maxeke Hospital have come up with an innovation to protect healthcare workers from Covid-19. 

April 6 2020 - 07:00

Universities consider reconfiguring academic year

A common reopening date, online learning and reconfiguring the academic calendar to align it with that of the northern hemisphere — these are all possible scenarios for SA tertiary institutions dealing with the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.

April 6 2020 - 06:35

Hunger, poverty and lockdown adds up to domestic violence crisis

Lockdown is the last thing a victim of domestic violence needs, says the director of a women's rights organisation.

“We are seeing an increase in the number of women seeking help,” she said. “The fights are happening because people are not used to being together for longer periods and being in confined spaces. There is already one woman killed [in the Eastern Cape].”

April 6 2020 - 06:02

There’s mayhem in store over who gets to define ‘essential’

Who determines a hairbrush to be a non-essential product? 

Thanks to some vague new legislation, it’s hard to know.

April 6 2020 - 06:03

Informal settlements a tinderbox of discontent

The government faces a revolt from residents of informal settlements who are unable to obey the strict lockdown regulations.