“The Department of Correctional Services has noted a resurgence of positive cases in East London, wherein 98 sentenced inmates tested positive for Covid-19,” DCS spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said.  

"Additionally, six officials and three inmates were confirmed to be positive in the Western Cape, whilst Kimberly registered one case of an official,” he said. 

As a result, the total number of positive cases within correctional services stood at 321.

“In order to avail immediate expertise in the management of infections, prevention and control measures, the department has appointed a medical advisory panel and additional 393 nursing personnel. 

"This measure is also aimed at strengthening the capacity of the department in dealing with Covid-19, particularly in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape,” Nxumalo said.

The number of recoveries within the department has also increased to 92.

On Thursday, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa has risen to 12 739, with 19 deaths reported over the past 24 hours. The infection figures were an increase of 665 on Wednesday's confirmed cases.

The latest fatalities bring the death toll from the coronavirus to 238, Mkhize said. "A total of 16 666 tests have been conducted in the last 24 hours," Mkhize said.

Meanwhile, the Cuban brigade of medical experts brought in to help South Africa in the ongoing gruelling fight against Covid-19 on Thursday said it had completed mandatory quarantine and would now be heading to different provinces for deployment. 

“We have successfully completed, in both Cuba and South Africa, the strict periods of preventive quarantine and we are all fully ready to depart for the different provinces of the country and immediately begin the difficult but noble task that has been entrusted to us,” it said in a declaration issued by the Cuban Embassy in Pretoria.

“It was a moral duty for us to immediately respond to the request for assistance that we were made to face, together with our South African brothers and sisters, this terrible virus. 

"Just as we fought together, South Africans and Cubans, against the apartheid regime, together we will face and overcome the pandemic.”

The team of 217 Cuban medical doctors arrived in South Africa last month to bolster local healthcare workers in their efforts to flatten the coronavirus infection curve. The group was immediately quarantined in Pretoria, in line with the standard protocol for those entering the country.

African News Agency