[imagesource: George Herald]

UPDATE: The security cluster media briefing, originally set to start at 10AM, and then 4PM, has now been moved to 5PM.

As of Thursday at midnight (or Thursday night at 11:59PM, to avoid confusion), South Africa will go into a 21-day lockdown.

We have covered all of the information presently available here, but there is still much that needs to be clarified.

This morning, it was announced that South Africa’s number of coronavirus cases had risen dramatically to 709 overnight, a 28% increase from yesterday.

According to our Minister of Health, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, at least 50 new positive coronavirus cases have been registered from a church in the Free State.

Yup, Zapiro hit the nail on the head with this cartoon.

Via News24:

Mkhize says the spike in the Free State were all linked to the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast which the Divine Restoration Ministries in Bloemfontein hosted. Five Covid-19 positive foreigners from the United States, Israel and France took part in the breakfast.

Mkhize said they were still looking for 300 people who attended the service. Among those who had attended the service were ACDP leader Kenneth Meshoe, ACDP MP Steve Swart and well-known pastor Angus Buchan. All three have indicated that they have undergone testing.

At present, we have zero deaths related to coronavirus, although two patients remain in ICU in private hospitals.

Use these four resources to track the spread of the coronavirus.

Back to the rules around the lockdown, and many questions remain. Can you still walk your dog, or go jogging, or buy booze?

For those answers, head here.

How road closures will work, and what the army will actually do to curb the movement of people, also needs clarification.

UPDATE: The media briefing, which was set to start at 4PM, has been pushed back to 5PM.

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula is also set to address all transport-related queries, according to a release yesterday.

The stream below will feature the 5PM (again, that time is subject to change) security cluster briefing:

[source:news24]