All bars, shebeens and some restaurants must close at 18:00 under strict new state rules

As part of the Disaster Management Act, government has just introduced strict new measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

On Sunday, president Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster.

With immediate effect, all establishments – including bars, clubs, shebeens and restaurants – that sell liquor must close at 18:00 on weekdays and Saturdays, and at 13:00 on Sundays and public holidays.

The establishments may only open at 09:00 the next morning.

The same regulations apply to all liquor stores.

All on-consumption premises selling liquor, including taverns, restaurants and clubs, are not allowed to have more than 50 people at the same time – or must be closed with immediate effect.

These places must also all adhere to strict hygienic conditions.

Innovative local app to help in Covid-19 response

Less than 24 hours after President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the Covid-19 coronavirus a national state of disaster, the non-profit organisation Gift of the Givers officially launched a fundraising campaign to assist South African medical professionals and hospitals in their efforts to respond to the expected rise in Covid-19 cases.

In order to ensure that the medical supplies and equipment purchased with the funds go to the areas that need it most, the campaign will make use of the Vula mobile app.

Vula, which was launched in 2014, is a referral app that connects primary healthcare workers across South Africa with various specialists.

According to its website, the app allows healthcare workers to contact specialists directly, ensuring a faster and more accurate referral for patients and expert advice on how to treat them.

“Vula has a growing network of over 11 000 (healthcare workers) …so we can help identify areas in need,” says Dr William Mapham, the man behind Vula.

Getting equipment and supplies to where it is needed

Almost 24 hours after its launch, the Gift of the Givers campaign had already raised just over R41 000.

According to a press release from Backabuddy (the fund-raising platform being used), the funds will be used to assist healthcare workers in buying essential equipment and supplies when needed.

“The aim of the campaign is to support high risk medical professionals on the frontline dealing with infected patients…through protective equipment, ventilators and other essential supplies in the quest to preserve life,” says Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of Gift of the Givers.

Sooliman says that “right now there is no emergency but preparing in advance to support overburdened government health facilities is a reasonable approach in the interests of all South Africans”.

A chance meeting

Vula’s involvement in the campaign happened almost by chance.

Mapham told Spotlight that it all started in a local shop a few days ago when he ran into Patrick Schofield, the CEO of Backabuddy.

Their conversation inevitably turned to Covid-19.

“(During a) fortuitous meeting in a shop, Patrick told me that Gift of the Givers was raising money to help health professionals (deal with Covid-19 cases),” Mapham explains.

Realising that Vula’s network could help direct resources to where they are needed most, Mapham and his team joined the campaign.

“We will keep communicating with the health workers on Vula to identify where help is needed,” says Mapham.

More closely in line with its original purpose, Vula’s users will also be able to use the app to contact specialists for assistance with any potential Covid-19 cases.

According to Mapham, the Vula app will be used by health professionals to connect to specialist advice at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD).

Vula’s original purpose

When asked what exactly the Vula app is, Mapham responds that “it’s a very niche product, designed to solve a very particular problem.”

It was designed to help ease the difficulties that primary health care providers working in rural areas face when referring their patients to specialists.

Patients from rural areas often have to travel far or wait a long time to see a specialist.

The app helps ensure that patients only travel when it is really necessary and when a specialist will be available to see them in a reasonable amount of time.

It also facilitates specialists sharing their expertise with other healthcare workers.

Elizma Anthonissen is an Ophthalmic Nurse Specialist at Vredendal Hospital’s Eye Care Centre in the Western Cape.

She does not mince her words about the harm that can result from long waiting lists and poor referral systems.

“A lot of people went blind due to extended waiting times to get an appointment (with a specialist),” she says.

Anthonissen started using Vula in 2014 when she was already working at Vredendal Hospital as a Clinical Nurse Practitioner.

“Vredendal is in a rural setting about 300km from Cape Town.

All the small “dorpies” in the Matzikama area (the area Vredendal is located in) have Primary Health Care Facilities, but there is only one hospital situated in Vredendal,” says Anthonissen.

6 months in jail for spreading fake news on coronavirus, say new regulations

The new regulations for the Disaster Management Act gazetted on Wednesday has stipulated those who spread fake news about the coronavirus can be fined or serve a six month prison sentence.alcohol

The regulations have also warned a similar sentence for someone who intentionally exposes someone to the disease.

The regulations, signed by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, concern all government departments and their responsibilities to curb the spread of Covid-19.All bars, shebeens and some restaurants must close at 18:00 under strict new state rules.

As part of the Disaster Management Act, government has just introduced strict new measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus. On Sunday, president Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster.

With immediate effect, all establishments – including bars, clubs, shebeens and restaurants – that sell liquor must close at 18:00 on weekdays and Saturdays, and at 13:00 on Sundays and public holidays.The transport industry could be the source of a wider spread of the coronavirus, the Western Cape MEC for Transport, Bonginkosi Madikizela, has warned, saying immediate action was necessary to curb any potential catastrophe.

This comes as Western Cape government officials visited the Cape Town bus terminus and airport on Wednesday to ensure enough is being done to minimise the spread of Covid-19.

Madikizela said: “the transport industry will be the hardest hit, if we don’t do something immediately”.

Coronavirus: where will high-risk medical waste go in SA?

Medical waste from tests and treatment of coronavirus patients needs to be carefully disposed of, says waste management company Averda.Medical waste from tests and treatment of coronavirus patients needs to be carefully disposed of, says waste management company Averda.
Image: GALLO IMAGES/AFP/BERND THISSEN
Vehicle tracking and incineration are among the hazardous waste protocols that will be followed to ensure medical waste stemming from the coronavirus is safely disposed of. This is the assurance to the public from a company involved in the process.

Thashnee Budram, from waste management provider Averda, said most of the medical waste would contain infected medical fluids and could not be carelessly discarded.

Averda, which services government and private facilities, would be tasked with destroying some of the waste.

Budram expressed faith in SA’s waste management systems, saying the country had an established hazardous waste management system which was compliant with global standards.

When it came to the destruction of waste resulting from the coronavirus tests and treatments, Budram said the waste would be packaged into multiple layers of thick plastic and boxes, and sterilised twice during the process.

“Assigned vehicles will then transport the waste to one of eight hazardous waste sites around the country,” Budram said.

These would incinerate the waste.

“The vehicle is tracked by GPS as it travels to the incinerator site and is not permitted to stop en route. The receiving team is notified of the vehicle’s arrival in advance and incinerator staff clear the loading bay of people.“Only a small number of specialist staff stay on hand, in full personal protective equipment (PPE) suits, to unlock and offload the cargo, which is immediately incinerated,” she said.

Averda said its health care incinerator in Klerksdorp had the capacity to incinerate up to 28 tonnes of waste a day, more than twice that of other incineration facilities in the country.

Budram said her company had experience in dealing with highly dangerous waste, having dealt with waste from the listeriosis outbreak in 2018, among other infections. “We have handled waste like this on numerous occasions, with the same SOPs as we are using for Covid-19. We are in communication with the department of health and the department of environmental affairs, and we report to them on a monthly basis, offering advice and training if and when they are setting up new quarantine sites,” says Budram.

She added that hospital staff were usually trained to deal with such waste, but hotels and airports would need to take extra caution.

Withdrawal of bank notes and coins is fake, Reserve Bank warns

The warning comes after hoax messages doing the rounds claimed the Reserve Bank was 'recalling' notes and coins.The warning comes after hoax messages doing the rounds claimed the Reserve Bank was ‘recalling’ notes and coins.
Image: Leon Swart/123rf.com
The withdrawal of banknotes and coins due the Covid-19 outbreak is fake, the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) warned on Wednesday.

The warning comes after hoax messages doing the rounds claimed the bank was “recalling” notes and coins from the public.

“It is believed that criminal elements are visiting the homes of members of the public, telling them to hand over banknotes in their possession because the banknotes have been contaminated with the coronavirus.

“These criminal elements carry fake SARB identification and provide false receipts in lieu of the banknotes collected, which they purport can be collected from any of the banks.

“The SARB has neither withdrawn any banknotes or coins, nor issued any instruction to hand in banknotes or coins that may be contaminated with the Covid-19 virus,” it said in a statement.The SARB urged community members to immediately alert law-enforcement authorities should they be approached by bogus Reserve Bank employees.

Meanwhile, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) said it had implemented strict general hygiene and social distancing to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Taxpayers are discouraged from visiting branches and instead encouraged to make use of the eFiling platform.

A maximum of 100 taxpayers would be allowed into a branch at the time.

Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said all their branches and ports of entry had been equipped with hand sanitisers.

“Our staff have also been provided with additional protective gear, such as gloves, and, where required, additional protective equipment suits.

“We request everyone to observe strict one-metre distances and avoid person to person contact as far as possible.”

Kieswetter said the revenue service would also no longer issue tax reference numbers for the purpose of employment at its branches. The eFiling system and mobiApp would cater for this.

Kieswetter said at ports of entry, physical contact with travellers must be avoided, non-intrusive detecting devices, such as baggage scanners, would be made use of and officials would be issued with additional protective clothing and gear.

“During these times, please be assured that we aim to provide continuity of the necessary engagement with taxpayers and traders, while balancing the risk of the coronavirus from spreading through the various measures to protect our staff, as well as yourselves.