Coronavirus cases in South Africa have surged passed 500,000 confirmed infections and the expected peak has still not been reached, officials said.
Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize announced 10,107 new cases on Saturday night, bringing the country’s cumulative total to 503,290, including 8,153 deaths.
South Africa, with a population of about 58 million, has the fifth-highest number of cases in the world, behind the U.S., Brazil, Russia and India, all countries with significantly higher populations, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. South Africa’s caseload represented 50 per cent of all confirmed infections in the 54 countries in Africa.
However, experts say the true toll of the pandemic worldwide is much higher than confirmed cases, due to limited testing and other reasons.
“Half a million is a significant milestone because it shows we’ve entered a stage of rapid increases. We may reach 1 million cases very quickly,” said Denis Chopera, a virologist based in Durban. “What we know for sure is that the figures are an underestimate and that this virus will be with us for a long time to come.”
South Africa’s Gauteng province – which includes Johannesburg, the country’s largest city, and the capital of Pretoria – is the country’s epicentre with more than 35 per cent of its confirmed cases.
Coronavirus around the world
Local hospitals have been struggling to cope and health experts say the country could reach the peak of its outbreak in late August or early September.
Cape Town, a city beloved by international tourists at the country’s southern tip, was the first centre and reached its peak last month, according to health experts.
South Africa will have multiple peaks across the country, each challenging its different provincial health care systems, said Mr Chopera, executive manager of the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence.
“The Western Cape had the first peak and did relatively well. Gauteng is the epicentre now and appears to be coping so far,” he said. “Other provinces, like the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, do not have reputations for well-organized health care systems. They may have serious problems.”
South Africa imposed a strict lockdown in April and May that appeared to slow the spread of the virus but caused such economic damage that the country began a gradual reopening in June.
South Africa was already in recession before the coronavirus hit and its unemployment stands at 30 per cent. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government has extended grants to the country’s poorest, increased supplies to hospitals and recently accepted a $4.3 billion (Dh 15.7bn) loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Corruption in the country’s pandemic response is a growing problem. On Thursday the top health official in Gauteng province was forced to step down over corruption allegations related to government contracts for Covid-19 personal protective equipment.
Mr Ramaphosa has warned that now, more than ever, South Africa’s persistent problem with widespread graft is endangering people’s lives.
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Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
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Photographer: Mateusz Stefanowski at Art Factory
Videographer: Jear Valasquez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Model: Randa at Art Factory Videographer’s assistant: Zanong Magat
Photographer’s assistant: Sophia Shlykova
With thanks to Jubail Mangrove Park, Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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South Africa:
Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wkt), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Wayne Parnell, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada
Coach: Ottis Gibson
Bangladesh:
Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Imrul Kayes, Liton Das (wkt), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wkt), Mustafizur Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed.
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Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.
Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.
"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."
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