President Ramaphosa to visit KZN and discuss plans to flatten Covid-19 curve

President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to visit KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday to discuss the province's plans and monitor its state of readiness for combating the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Ramaphosa will meet KZN premier Sihle Zikalala on Tuesday morning and visit sites identified as Covid-19 facilities.

According to a statement issued by the premier's office on Monday, the president will engage with the provincial government and stakeholders on the province's response strategies and progress being made to flatten the curve of infections.

He will then visit the Dr Pixley Isaka Seme provincial hospital in KwaMashu, north of Durban, which is one of the hospitals designated to manage Covid-19.

The president will conclude his KZN visit with an inspection at the Agricultural Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg, which has been designated as a quarantine or isolation facility for patients.

KZN accounts for the third most Covid-19 cases in the country, with 1,076 people having tested positive for the virus as of Sunday. 

Last week Zikalala gave a breakdown of the number of confirmed cases in the province. 

He said KZN had contributed nearly 21% of new cases.

Zikalala said another worrying factor was that 121 health-care workers had tested positive in the province - up from 108 the previous week.

It is understood that Zikalala will update the media with the latest stats in the province during the week. 

The provincial leadership has on more than one occasion stated its concern about the number of cases in eThekwini, the epicentre of the virus in the province. 

In the public interest, most of our coronavirus news isn’t behind our paywall, and is free to read. To support our mission of delivering award-winning, independent local news, subscribe from as little as R45 per month by clicking here.