12 May 2020 – The Covid-19 death toll in the Western Cape has climbed past 100, while the Eastern Cape has replaced Gauteng as the province with the third highest number of deaths.
The Western Cape (106) accounts for 51% of the confirmed number of deaths in the country after 12 people died. No deaths have been recorded yet in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.
Eight people died in the Western Cape, two in the Eastern Cape and one each in North West, which recorded its first death, and KwaZulu-Natal, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Of the new confirmed infections, 453 (nearly 53%) were from the Western Cape. The Eastern Cape recorded the second highest number of new infections with 138 cases – a combined 92.7% with the Western Cape in the overall new cases – followed by Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
The North West had five new infections and the Northern Cape one. Limpopo and the Free State had no new cases.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Monday it is evident that there is cross-border transmission of Covid-19 between the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape, and that this had to be handled holistically.
“The trade routes and the seasonal workers are something we have to take into account as we manage the containment of the infections,” he said.
Between Sunday and Monday, 14 731 new tests were done, with the number of infections rising. There were 4 357 recoveries recorded by Monday.
Mkhize said 20 Cuban doctors will be deployed to two of the Eastern Cape’s Covid-19 hot spots – Port Elizabeth and East London.
The Cuban doctors who came to South Africa to help fight the coronavirus have been in isolation and are expected to begin their work “in the next few days”, said Mkhize.
“We are not aware if they have tested positive,” he added.
LATEST BREAKDOWN
| New Deaths | New Cases | Total Cases | Total Deaths | |
| South Africa | 12 | 637 | 10652 | 206 |
| Western Cape | 8 | 453 | 5621 | 106 |
| Gauteng | 0 | 19 | 1971 | 22 |
| KZN | 1 | 19 | 1372 | 44 |
| Eastern Cape | 2 | 138 | 1356 | 24 |
| Free State | 0 | 0 | 135 | 6 |
| Mpumalanga | 0 | 2 | 63 | 0 |
| Limpopo | 0 | 0 | 54 | 3 |
| N West | 1 | 5 | 50 | 1 |
| N Cape | 0 | 1 | 30 | 0 |
(source: IOL)