Minister of Health Dr. Zweli Mkhize has confirmed that the total cases of coronavirus in South Africa now have reached 101,590. This marks an increase of 4,288 cases from 97,302 reported cases on Sunday, while a record 24-hour increase of 4,966 cases reported on Saturday.
The Minister announced 61 new Covid-19 related deaths, totaling 1,991 and a 2 percent mortality rate. While the recovery rate increased to 53,130 translating into a recovery rate of 52.6 percent.
A total of 1,35 million tests have been carried out to date, with 25,116 tests carried out in the last 24 hours, Dr. Mkhize said.
Globally, 9 million cases of Covid-19 have been reported since 31 December 2019 and as of 22 June 2020, including more than 471,000 deaths and 4.86 million recoveries.
Job Losses:
President Cyril Ramaphosa said that South Africa is facing a tough road ahead of the Covid-19 outbreak and called for the country’s citizens to be reasonable about future prospects – especially about the time required for the economy to recover.
The president said in his weekly open letter to the public, that the economy is now ‘in the throes of the anticipated fallout from this global crisis’ and that the predictions of businesses shutting down and jobs being lost are materializing.
“Last week, a number of businesses reported plans to cut employees. From aviation to construction, from entertainment and leisure to hospitality, companies have implied their intention to reduce the number of employees due to heavy losses incurred over the last 3 months.
Ramaphosa pointed out that South Africa is not alone in this context and that a lot of other nations are now suffering a ‘job loss tsunami.’
He noted that Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, India, China, and almost every nation that had implemented some sort of lockout had reported job losses or reduced working hours.
“Difficult decisions and difficult days lie ahead for a country like ours, which has been facing an unemployment crisis and weak economic growth,” Ramaphosa said.
“I will recommend that the tough decisions to be made be taken with great consideration and with due attention to balancing the survival of businesses and the livelihoods of workers.
“It is critical that whatever is achieved is underpinned by ensuring a fair transition for everyone concerned.”
