South Africa confirmed that the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus increased from 93 to 1280 on Sunday, as the number of deaths increased to two, with the country entering the third day of a general closure and officials announced new measures to address the economic consequences.
On Sunday, health officials said a 74-year-old man in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal had been diagnosed with corona two days ago after he had flu-like symptoms and was already suffering from skin cancer.
South Africa began a 21-day closure on Friday, as people forced their homes and most companies closed.
On Sunday, South African Treasury officials said they were considering asking the International Monetary Fund for emergency financial support to tackle the disease, the largest so far on the continent, and some experts fear the health system, already overstretched, may be overburdened.
The Treasury said it would also apply to employers a tax tax of 500 rand ($ 28) per month for each employee during the next four months to ease the financial losses incurred by companies due to Corona.