COVID-19 cases spike to 150 in South Africa
South Africa has seen yet another spike in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 Coronavirus as the number shoots up to 150.
On Thursday President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement after meeting with religious leaders in Pretoria on plans to tackle the COVID-19 disaster.
Ramaphosa pleaded with religious leaders to help government with containing the continuous spread of the virus in light of this increase.
This comes on the back of his announcement on Sunday prohibiting all gatherings of more than a 100 people amid the outbreak.
"The Minister of Health was able to outline to all of us that the level of infection has now risen to 150 and that for us is concerning because that already tells us if you extrapolate that it could start rising in greater numbers," Ramaphosa said.
"It then reinforces our message about social distancing that we should, as much as we can, reduce the gatherings of people."
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Phaahla was briefing the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Thursday. South Africa had 116 confirmed positive cases as of Thursday morning, a number that is expected to increase as more people are undergoing testing. The Health Department also confirmed 14 of the positive cases contracted the virus locally.
Millions of churchgoers were set to go ahead with Easter weekend services next month, but government continued to apply pressure to the various leaders to avoid gatherings in the interest of saving lives.
"I have confidence that that call has been heeded and particularly now that we are moving towards the various pilgrimages that out people have," said Ramaphosa.
The President also welcomed the proposal by the religious leaders for a national day of prayer, saying the details thereof would still be finalised.