10,015 confirmed coronavirus cases in South Africa as deaths climb to 194
Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize has announced that there are now 10,015 confirmed cases of coronavirus in South Africa.
This is an increase of 595 from the 9,420 cases reported on Saturday.
Dr Mkhize said in a statement on Sunday (10 May), that the total number of deaths has increased by eight, to 194. A total of 341,336 tests have been conducted, up from 324,079 before.
Globally, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has passed 4.1 million, with over 280,000 confirmed deaths.
Recoveries have passed 1.45 million, leaving around 2.4 million cases active – where 47,000 people are reportedly in serious or critical condition.
Latest #Covid19 statistics in South Africa #day45oflockdown #CovidinSA #StayHomeSA pic.twitter.com/4AqsKool0E
— GCIS Media Liaison (@GCISMedia) May 10, 2020
What we don’t know about coronavirus
The best minds in virology are trying to unravel a mystery: How did a lethal coronavirus jump from the wilds of rural China to major human population centers?
And what chain of genetic mutations produced a pathogen so perfectly adapted for stealth and mass transmission?
Deciphering the creation story of SARS-CoV-2, as the virus now rampaging around the globe is known, is a crucial step toward arresting a pandemic that’s killed 270,000-plus and triggered what could be the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression, Bloomberg reported.
While crash vaccine programs are underway in the US, Europe and China, an inoculation to ward off the virus may not be ready for months, and the jury’s out on potential treatments.
In the meantime, to reduce the risk of deadly secondary outbreaks or the emergence of an entirely new strain, disease chasers need to retrace the pathogen’s journey around the globe.
That means heading back to China, where it all started sometime in 2019.
Roughly 70% of emerging infectious diseases in humans are zoonotic, or transmitted from animals to people. Genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 shows it’s related to two other deadly coronaviruses that originated in bats.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome, which started in China in 2002, and Middle East respiratory syndrome a decade later spread to humans via a secondary animal source.
In the case of SARS, experts pointed to civet cats—small, sleek nocturnal mammals used in wildlife dishes in China—as the probable conduit. With MERS, camels are believed to be the carrier.
It’s presumed that SARS-CoV-2 has made a similar journey, yet investigators have yet to identify an intermediate animal host, according to Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO food safety and animal diseases expert.
“We have some kind of a missing link in that story between the origin of the virus and when it started to circulate in humans,” he said.
That raises the disturbing possibility that an unknown animal source is still spreading the disease, known as Covid-19.
WHO researchers reported Friday that household cats can transmit the virus to other felines, though there’s no evidence yet that pets can pass it along to humans.
What we don’t know about the virus at home
The government says it is holding back some information on the Covid-19 pandemic, to avoid panic.
The Sunday Times reported that the government’s strategy to keep crucial data from the public comes after an earlier model on which the country’s strict lockdown laws was heavily criticised.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko told the Sunday Times: “We don’t want to put these models out to the public as if they are the gospel truth.
“There is an element where we want to avoid panic in communities, and we’re also mindful of the stigma of the virus.”
Experts noted that the government’s decisions on reopening the economy are based on information and data that is not available to the public.
The data will include epidemiological models drawn up by leading scientists, actuaries and mathematicians tracking how effective the lockdown has been, the Sunday paper said.
Read: Why the coronavirus death toll is misleading – and how to get the true figures
Loading ...