This as Premier Zamani Saul and his team are set to inform the citizens of the government’s state of readiness to combat the pandemic aligned with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s vision. His address comes as other provinces in Central South African have already formed committees and command teams which include MECs, amongst others. His office says the briefing comes after an extended Executive Council (Exco) meeting that included Heads of all Government Departments and other state institutions. So far 150 cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Meanwhile the Free State Provincial Government, like the other provincial governments in Central South Africa, has announced the formation of a committee to look into ways of curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus. Premier Sisi Ntombela said part of her government’s stringent measures is to close some of the borders shared between the province and the neighbouring country of Lesotho. She said 114 beds have been organised across the province, with 38 beds at the isolation centre of Pelonomi in Bloemfontein, which is the province’s designated hospital during the coronavirus outbreak.

And also in the North West premier, Job Mokgoro on Wednesday 18 March 2020, during a media briefing, announced that a 40-bed ward at the Klerksdorp Tshepong Hospital complex has been prepared as the designated hospital with an isolation centre during any possible outbreak of the coronavirus in the province. He said the complex has also formed a management committee, specifically for Covid-19, led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the Clinical Manager. Mokgoro also said six individuals were earlier tested by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NCID) and their tests results came back negative.

OFM News