Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement that South Africa has now recorded our first deaths resulting from Covid-19.
“These two deaths occurred in the Western Cape. One at a private hospital and the other at a public hospital.”
He added that more details would be revealed later on Friday morning as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases have increased and have tipped 1000 mark.
On Thursday night President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that South Africa could have more than 1 500 confirmed coronavirus cases within the next few days.
The president, who was dressed in full SANDF gear, was speaking to the nation while giving final orders to the troops who will be deployed to the streets from Thursday midnight.
Ramaphosa said the government was keeping the majority of the population indoors and it was the task of the SAPS and the SANDF to help curb the rising Covid-19 infection rate.
“We are placing confidence and trust in all of you. In a few days, we could be at over 1 500. Our task is to minimize the infection rate,” he told the soldiers.
“Our task is to give life back to the people of South Africa, to make sure we save lives, to make sure the people of South Africa are safe and to make sure the country is in a state we can bounce back and come back to life. You are going to make that possible,” Ramaphosa said.
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