Coronavirus morning update: SA’s third death, more lockdown arrests, and lessons in containment

Your latest coronavirus news: A third death was recorded in SA, in the Free State; more than 200 arrests in the North West for breaking lockdown rules; and how these three countries have managed to contain their Covid-19 infections.

The Gauteng Department of Health has confirmed that five people in Alexandra are under quarantine after coming into contact with a man who tested positive for Covid-19.

The man ignored an instruction to remain in isolation, pending the confirmation of his test results, and travelled to Limpopo before the start of the national lockdown last week.

He was traced to Limpopo, where he is currently being held in isolation at a health facility, said the department in a statement on Monday.

“The people in quarantine are awaiting their results.

“All known close contacts have already been identified, tested, and are in quarantine pending results. Our tracing team will continue to work on the tracking and tracing of other possible contacts.

“We are urging communities to take heed of the lockdown measures and act responsibly, so that together we can contain and prevent the further spread of Covid-19,” read the statement.Two pensioners died on the first day of social grant payments on Monday under the 21-day lockdown in Pimville, Soweto, and Hammersdale in KwaZulu-Natal.

Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said she was saddened to learn about the deaths.

“I express my deepest and heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the departed. Both of them were confirmed to be social grant beneficiaries at the time of their passing and I have instructed Sassa to process their payments without any delays.”

Zulu has directed social workers to provide psycho-social support services to their families.

She appealed to social grant beneficiaries to comply with the lockdown regulations by using their Sassa and post office cards at local retailers to avoid long queuesMore than 200 people have been arrested in the North West for contravening lockdown regulations.

This after the country went into a 21-day lockdown that was ordered by President Cyril Ramaphosa to curb the coronavirus from spreading.

North West Department of Community Safety and Transport Management spokesperson Alpheus Koonyaditse said the suspects had contravened Disaster Management Act regulations.

“The suspects were arrested for failing to confine [themselves] to their residential places, while others were arrested for moving between metropolitan and district areas as well as misrepresenting that another person was infected with Covid-19.

“Others were arrested for failing to close liquor premises and some for failing to adhere to the Germans could soon be issued with ‘immunity certificates’ which will allow them to leave the country’s coronavirus lockdown earlier than the rest of the population if they test positive for antibodies to the virus.

States across Germany are currently in lockdown with strict quarantines imposed in some parts of the country.

However, German Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig soon plan to send out hundreds of thousands of antibody tests over the coming weeks which could allow many thousands of people to break free of the lockdowns, Der Spiegel magazine reported.

The tests are designed to detect whether an individual has developed antibodies to Covid-19, indicating that they have at one time been a carrier and built up immunity.

A positive test could allow individual Germans to leave the lockdown, or allow the national government to ease restrictions in areas where so-called “herd immunity” has been developed.

“Those who are immune could be given a type of vaccination card that, for example, allows them to be exempted from [Coronavirus-related] restrictions on their work,” Gerard Krause, the epidemiologist leading the project, told the magazine.