President Cyril Ramaphosa says consultations will get under way as the government prepares to ease level 4 lockdown restrictions to level 3 from the end of May.
When addressing the nation last night (13 May) President Ramaphosa acknowledged that the national lockdown had negative effects on the economy. But he also said that it bought the country time to prepare health care facilities, adding, the country now had over 25 000 quarantine beds.
The President emphasised that if the national lockdown had never been implemented, the scientific projections showed that the country could have seen 80 000 cases by now, and even more deaths.
President Ramaphosa announced that as of yesterday evening, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa was 12 074 and COVID-19 deaths stood at 219. At the same time 386 352 tests have been conducted and 4 745 recoveries had been made.
Infections by Province
| Province | New cases on 13 May 2020 |
Total cases for 13 May 2020 |
Percentage total |
| Eastern Cape | 30 | 1 534 | 12,7 |
| Free State | 2 | 138 | 1,1 |
| Gauteng | 61 | 2 074 | 17,2 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 19 | 1 413 | 11,7 |
| Limpopo | 0 | 54 | 0,4 |
| Mpumalanga | 3 | 66 | 0,5 |
| North West | 1 | 52 | 0,4 |
| Northern Cape | 0 | 30 | 0,2 |
| Western Cape | 608 | 6 713 | 55,6 |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | 0,0 |
| Total | 724 | 12074 | 100,0 |
Deaths & Recoveries by Province
| Province | Deaths | Recoveries (as at 12 May 2020) |
| Eastern Cape | 24 | 632 |
| Free State | 6 | 107 |
| Gauteng | 24 | 1343 |
| Kwazulu Natal | 44 | 618 |
| Limpopo | 3 | 30 |
| Mpumalanga | 0 | 24 |
| North West | 1 | 24 |
| Northern Cape | 0 | 17 |
| Western Cape | 117 | 1950 |
| Total | 219 | 4745 |
Source: sacoronavirus.co.za
** If you think you have been exposed to the Covid-19 virus, please call the government’s 24-hour hotline on 0800 029 999 or visit https://sacoronavirus.co.za/ for more information
