Coronavirus: Three-year-old child suspected to have been infected via local transmission
16 March 2020
In his announcement to the nation on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said there had been local transmissions of the coronavirus (Covid-19). Now, according to the Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhize, this is under investigation, with one of the suspected cases a three-year-old child in KwaZulu-Natal.
"We will confirm it as soon as we have more information.
"One of the cases is a three-year-old child, who is linked to a contact. But we're trying to establish the exact connection between them," Mkhize said.
He added that he would not go into detail, but said, at this stage, the child's parents were healthy.
Mkhize said another case of local transmission was in Gauteng – and, again, his team was trying to locate where the infection came from.
He further called for cooperation from South Africans to assist in the connection process, in a bid for the government to contain infection rates.
Mkhize explained the restrictions taken to limit the spread of Covid-19 were taken with the poor and vulnerable in mind.
"We are going to be intensifying communication, reaching out to community leaders, churches and so on," he said.
Mkhize added that government would reach out to the largest number of people possible.
"The strain of the inequality of our society is going to [be] most visible at this point," he added, saying more resources would need to go to underprivileged communities.
He explained the Disaster Management Act helped to shorten the supply chain management process, making it easier for departments to coordinate. This meant it would be easier to take action in the areas of need.
