The Eastern Cape government has undertaken to suspend all circumcision-related ceremonies amid the coronavirus outbreak. The decision is in line with the county’s precautionary measures taken to contain the spread of the virus.
Up to now, the virus has claimed more than 10 000 lives across the globe with South Africa recording over 200 positive cases in a period of two weeks.
Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC in the Eastern Cape, Xolile Nqatha, says his department, in consultation with the House of Traditional Leaders, has taken a decision to halt initiation until further notice.
“We have taken a view that in the 30 days from now there must be no initiations going forward up until that decision is reviewed because we would not want to expose initiates into threats of deaths and that we would want to ensure that there is compliance with the national state of disaster. We (prefer to) save lives than to take risks unnecessarily in the face of this challenge.”
South Africa now has the highest number of coronavirus infections in sub-Saharan Africa.
Below is a map of designated hospitals set up to manage coronavirus:
Government suspends large gatherings
This comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a raft of measures to try and contain the spread of the COVID-19 in South Africa, including a national state of disaster.
![[FILE IMAGE] Nurses are seen taking care of patients in a busy hospital.](https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/SABC_News_Health-care-workers-120x86.png)
