Coronavirus: South African caseload tops 500,000

South Africa has now registered more than 500,000 cases of coronavirus, making it by far the hardest-hit country in Africa.

South Africa has now registered more than 500,000 cases of coronavirus, making it by far the hardest-hit country in Africa.

The country has become the epicentre of the deadly pandemic on the continent, accounting for more than half of Africa’s diagnosed infections.

“Today South Africa has exceeded the half-a-million mark with a cumulative total of 503,290 confirmed COVID-19 cases recorded,” Heath Minister Zweli Mkhize said late on Saturday.

More than a third of positive cases are in Gauteng province — South Africa’s financial hub.

So far the number of fatalities stands at 8153, although local researchers have recorded a jump of nearly 60 per cent in the overall number of natural deaths in recent weeks, suggesting a far higher toll of coronavirus-related fatalities than officially recorded.

An undertaker, wearing a protective suit and a face shield, and relatives escort the coffin containing the remains of a COVID-19 victim during a funeral in Johannesburg. Picture: AFP

An analysis by the South African Medical Research Council suggested an excess of 22,000 natural mortalities between May 6 and July 21 compared to the same period in 2019 and 2018.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday that South Africa’s case fatality rate stood at 1.6 per cent, which he said was “significantly lower than the global average”.

“While South Africa has the fifth highest number of total COVID-19 cases globally, we have only the 36th highest number of deaths as a proportion of the population,” Mr Ramaphosa. said.

South Africa’s case load has been rising rapidly in recent weeks. Health authorities have been expecting a surge in cases after the gradual loosening of a strict lockdown that was imposed on March 27, during the early stage of the pandemic.

But the recovery rate has so far been a high 68 per cent.

South Africa has one of the best health care systems on the continent, but it has been rocked by alleged corruption in the supply of personal protective gear for health workers in public hospitals.

Mr Ramaphosa’s spokeswoman Khusela Diko last month took leave pending a probe into her husband’s alleged links to unlawful contracts for personal protective equipment. Ms Diko and her husband have maintained their innocence, saying the contract was never finalised. The health minister for Gauteng province Bandile Masuke was sent on forced leave last week pending a probe into suspected graft in the purchase of protective equipment and other medical supplies.

“It is unconscionable that there are people who may be using this health crisis to unlawfully enrich themselves,” Mr Ramaphosa said on Saturday.

South Africa has embarked on an aggressive testing and tracing exercise, conducting more than three million tests since the first case of the virus was recorded there in early March.

AFP