News24.com | LIVE | South Africa now has 274 coronavirus cases
2020-03-22 15:30
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Rev Meshoe gets tested
African Christian Democratic Party leader Rev Kenneth Meshoe has been tested for the novel coronavirus after he participated in a religious gathering in the Free State where five international guests tested positive for the virus.
Subsequent to the event, Rev Meshoe was among leaders of political parties represented in Parliament who met with Ramaphosa in Cape Town last week.
“Rev Meshoe has since confirmed publicly that in the days before the meeting with the President and therefore before the prohibition of public gatherings numbering more than 100 people, he had participated in a religious gathering in the Free State where five international guests subsequently tested positive for the virus,” The Presidency said in a statement on Sunday.
“The Presidency welcomes Rev Meshoe’s adherence to the testing protocol and wishes him well as he awaits his results.”
The Presidency said there no cause for concern about Ramaphosa’s health.
“To the best of the President’s knowledge, no person with whom he has recently had contact – including Rev Meshoe – has symptoms of or tested positive for the virus.”
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A French doctor caring for coronavirus patients has died of the illness, authorities said Sunday, the first such death in the country that is grappling with the mushrooming outbreak.
The 67-year-old emergency room medic worked at Compiegne hospital, north of Paris, the town’s mayor told AFP.
Mayor Philippe Marini said that he was “someone who came back to work voluntarily to treat people and knew he was taking a risk.”
The doctor was named as Madagascar-born Jean-Jacques Razafindranazy by France 3 television, who said his wife, a family doctor, was also sick with the virus and has been quarantined at home.
His son posted an emotional message on Facebook, describing Razafindranazy as “my father the hero”, according to France 3.
“He was passionate about his work and chose not to retire. He has a left a family behind him who will never forget him,” he added.
The son thanked those who cared for his father in his final days in hospital in the northern city of Lille, and warned that “this illness is extremely serious and must not be taken lightly”.
– AFP
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The number of confirmed cases of the disease rose by 3,646, or 14.6 percent, to 28,572, according to health ministry figures, with officials warning infections will rise further in the coming days.
With 1,785 being treated in intensive care untits for the virus, there is mounting concern about overcrowding at hospitals.Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned late on Saturday that Spain’s outbreak, already among the harshest in the world, would continue to worsen.
“We must prepare ourselves emotionally and psychologically for very hard days ahead,” he told the nation in a televised address late on Saturday.
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A time for Ramaphosa’s address to the nation has not yet been made public.
Sandile Zungu of the Black Business Council said the sacrifices that business are making were being appreciated by government.
He said business had committed to working with government and other social partners to ‘flatten the cure’.
Flattening the curve refers to measures intended to prevent a peak of coronavirus cases by instead attempting to stagger infections out over a longer period, by introducing social distancing measures.
“Let’s honour the social distancing protocols,” said Zungu.
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