108 021 tests have been completed, and Mkhize says in the past few days, there have been more than 5 000 tests per day conducted in the public sector. Mkhize says they have screened close to 900 000 people, 11 000 of which have been referred for testing. Current recoveries are at 903.

Mkhize affirmed support for WHO, saying they have handled the situation well. He says the Director General of WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is a man of integrity. Attacking WHO and Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is unfair, and is distracting the world from a common enemy, he says. He says US president is trying to 'turn us against each other'.

241 countrywide are in hospital, 162 of those admitted in private hospitals, 79 in public hospitals; 137 in isolation ; 36 in ICU, 23 on ventilators.

China has deployed experts to assist South Africa with the crisis. They have also opened up their supply chain to South Africa.

They are also expecting around 180 doctors and specialists from Cuba to assist South Africa. India has supported South Africa by allowing medicine to leave the country despite their national lockdown.

Mkhize closed by commending the media for their reportage thus far of the Covid-19 crisis.

News24