The Western Cape government says it does not rule out the possibility of cremating people who have died due to the coronavirus, should the need arises.
Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo says its because of the unique nature of COVID-19.
She says cremation are widely used in overseas countries, and added that the contagious nature of the coronavirus, can change funeral traditions.
“Of course although in South Africa we don’t have as much compared at this stage international where people are dying in numbers like in the US but they might be a time, as I said we don’t know how the disease will evolve. There might be a time where either cremation or mass burial which we have seen in New York City, but we are not there at that level yet,” explains Mbombo.
So proud of all our community health workers/nurses over last while having screened 41099 in Wcape & their most on ONE day of 12 381 being their most successfull day 🙌
Thanks to all of you under leadership of Dr @nomafrench and obviously @alanwinde 🇿🇦#StopTheSpread pic.twitter.com/GPubeKf6Jt
— Ricardo Mackenzie MPL🇿🇦 (@ricardomackenzi) April 17, 2020
SA’s COVID-19 cases:
The COVID-19 related death toll in South Africa is now at 50. This is an increase of two from Thursday’s figure of 48.
The Health Ministry also announced that the number of confirmed cases now stands at 2 783.
Breakdown of latest COVID-19 stats below:
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The deaths were recorded in the Western Cape. The number of positive cases are also on a sharp rise with 178 new cases. Gauteng remains the epicenter of the pandemic with 1018 cases followed by the Western Cape with 717 and KwaZulu-Natal with 591.
On Thursday, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo recorded their first deaths. The Northern Cape is the least affected province with only 16 cases. In a statement, the Health Ministry says to date, over 100 000 tests have been conducted.
Simplified breakdown of COVID-19 in SA below:
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