City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mzwandile Masina says they’ve set up a Joint Operation Centre which is monitoring the coronavirus situation and providing regular updates on the situation.
South Africa now has 116 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
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Ekurhuleni has four confirmed cases.
Masina delivered his State of the City Address at the Germiston Council Chambers in the East Rand.
He has also appealed to commnities not to panic and follow the guidelines issued by government with regard to the high standards of hygiene.
Coronavirus cases mostly from overseas travellers
Deputy Director General at the National Department of Health Dr Anban Pillay says the majority of coronavirus cases are of those who have travelled abroad.
The latest cases are 16 in Gauteng, three in KwaZulu-Natal, two in Mpumalanga and ten in the Western Cape.
Pillay says the travel restrictions in place will assist in stemming the further spread of the virus.
“Cases are definitely going up and that is largely driven by imported cases. There are a few that are linked to local transmission. But they may have been in contact with someone who travelled internationally and I think that is what the teams are trying to establish. I think the travel restrictions in place are going to go a long way in us trying to stem the flow because most of our cases are imported.”
Travel bans on high-risk countries in effect on Wednesday
Travel bans on citizens from eight countries including the United Kingdom and the United States were announced earlier this week.
The graphic below shows countries affected by travel bans:
Copy of epidemic v pandemic by SABC Digital News
All foreign nationals from high-risk countries or who have visited these countries in the past 20 days will be denied a visa.
Travellers from medium-risk countries, as identified by the Department of Health, will be obliged to undergo high-intensity screening.
Travellers who have entered the country from high-risk countries since 15 February are required to present themselves for testing.
In the video below, Transport Minister Fikile outlines how travel bans will be implemented:
This story was edited after the Mayor’s office retracted the statement about plans to buy vaccines.
