eThekwini to remain under stringent lockdown regulations come 1 May
KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala said if the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in eThekwini, the municipality will remain under stringent lockdown regulations compared to other districts.
eThekwini's sitting on 579 cases, the most in any district in KwaZulu, making it the epicenter of the province's outbreak.
"We are still noticing a trend whereby most of our new cases are being registered in eThekwini which is recording about 10 cases a day, in fact, there is not a single day that eThekwini does report new cases unlike other districts," said Zikalala.
Zikalala briefed members of the media yesterday on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in KZN and preparations to move into Level 4. He says there's been a rapid rise of infections in Durban.
"Last Sunday we had 383 cases for eThekwini but right now we are at 579. Last Sunday our deaths stood at 21, today we are 25. We remain concerned with our situation and what is emerging in the iLembe district."
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Zikalala says he's asked KZN Health to investigate the reasons for these high number of deaths. Their initial suspicion shows there might be a problem with the management of these cases, "Particularly in the private sector we have therefore instituted an investigation through the department to ensure this issue is investigated further," he added.
He said the investigation will tell them whether the reason for these deaths is due to medical reasons or negligence.
The premier said 121 healthcare workers in the province have been infected with the coronavirus, adding that the number has grown from 108 last week.
"It's concerning because as far as we know all our qualifying health workers should have access to the protective personal equipment (PPE) that they need to avoid infection. It would appear that we need to further capacitate our healthcare workers in the correct use of PPE."
