Premier Sisi Ntombela, on Wednesday night 13 May, also announced that 15 162 Covid-19 tests were conducted while 3 052 of 3 059 contacts have been traced successfully. So far only six people have died in the province due to the virus which affected all five district municipalities. In her statement published on her Facebook page, Ntombela adds that the Mangaung Metro Municipality (MMM) has the highest number of recorded confirmed cases of Covid-19 with 120 cases and 95 recoveries in the metro which means only 25 cases are active.

"It is our view that Mangaung, which include Bloemfontein, remains a noticeable problem for us and the latest numbers indicate that Mangaung alone is on 120 cases, this is 88% of all cases, in the Free State," she adds.  She further says that 250 000 people were screened in Mangaung, 260 000 in Fezile Dabi which include Sasolburg, 218 000 in Lejweleputswa which include Welkom, 356 000 in Thabo Mofutsanyana which include Phuthaditjhaba and 97 000 in Xhariep which include Koffiefontein. 

"Between the public and private labs, we know that over 30 000 tests have been conducted and we continue to scale up the testing capacity in accordance with the availability of resources.  It is far too early to claim victories and our economy, which was already not doing well, has taken a serious beating," Ntombela says. 

She also touched on what she terms "structural problems". "Our problems are not limited to the inadequate delivery of food parcels, but also the creation and retention of jobs, industries and our basic education sector, which has made us a shining star in the country for such a long time. We need to work very hard to not only rebuild our economy, but also create new opportunities," she said.

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