South Africa's Covid-19 infections figures stood at just over 700,000 yesterday, with health minister Zweli Mkhize and his wife, May, being the latest high-profile people to contract the virus since he announced the sad news on Sunday.
Mkhize is quarantining at home while May has been hospitalised.
“I was feeling abnormally exhausted and as the day progressed, I started losing appetite. My wife had a cough, was dizzy and extremely exhausted. Given her symptoms, the doctors advised that she be admitted for observation and rehydration,” Mkhize said in a statement.
He said all their contacts had been advised to self-isolate and pleaded with South Africans to adhere to health protocols.
We wish the minister and his wife a speedy recovery and hope his diagnosis serves as a reminder to all that the virus is still very much with us. Since SA moved into lockdown level 1 on September 20, it is very common to see people not wearing masks in public – they’ve sort of become the key to access shops, as all shops only grant entry when one is wearing a mask. People are back to living their normal lives – partying, sharing drinks and cigarettes as if we are not in the middle of a pandemic.
We urge you to keep wearing your masks, to social distance and wash and sanitise your hands all the time. It has been a long and exhausting journey, with people yearning for normalcy, since the first positive case was confirmed in the country on March 5.
We have moved from a hard lockdown under level 5, where only essential workers were allowed to go to work, to the current stage where most companies are open for business – all in seven months. But let’s remember that Covid-19 is still as deadly as it was when we first heard of it, still infecting people as local numbers yesterday were at 703,793 positive cases, 18,471 deaths and 634,543 recovered, while more than 40,1-million people were infected, 1,11-million died and 27,5-million recovered worldwide.
Let’s stick to the protocols, choose life and save the lives of our loved ones. We will beat this, and one day we will report zero new infections – that will be the only indication that we are safe.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.