Health Minister Zweli Mkhize reported today, on the first day of level 1 of lockdown, that 39 more people have succumbed to the novel Coronavirus.
The cumulative number of those infected by the deadly virus, which is a global pandemic, was now sitting at 661 936, an increase of 725 new cases since yesterday.
The total number of people killed by the disease since the first case was reported early in March has now risen to 15 992.
The latest deaths recorded were 16 in the North West, 9 in Gauteng, 4 in the Western Cape, 9 in the Eastern Cape and 1 in KwaZulu-Natal.
The recoveries now stood at 591 208, which translated into 89,3% while 4 047 723 tests have been conducted so far.
Gauteng continued to be the epicenter of COVID-19, with 217 485 cumulative cases, followed by KwaZulu Natal, which has so far recorded 117 833 cases, then the Western Cape at 109 526 and the Eastern Cape at 88 205. Thee Free State has 44 291 cumulative cases, North West 28 187, Mpumalanga 26 525, Northern Cape 15 163 and lastly Limpopo at 14 721.
Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the country would today move to level 1 of the lockdown, which would see the further easing of restrictions on economic activity.
The president said the sale of alcohol would now be allowed between Monday and Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Ramaphosa also announced that the curfew has been moved to between midnight and 4am.
He said social, political and other gatherings were permitted under level 1 as long as the number of people doesn’t exceed 50% of the normal capacity, adding that up to 250 people were allowed for indoor gatherings and 500 for outdoor gatherings.
