Pietermaritzburg - KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has announced a provincial command team that will coordinate urgent efforts to fight the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus in the province.
KZN currently has 19 coronavirus infections, the third most in the country behind Gauteng, 61, and the Western Cape, 31.
Zikalala's provincial command team comes as a response to President Cyril Ramaphosa declaring a state of national disaster.
Zikalala announced the team after a special extended provincial cabinet meeting in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday.
The first infection in the country was detected in the KZN Midlands last week and since then, there have been other infections throughout the country. A report on IOL earlier said the man was recovering and was ready to go back home after being treated at Grey's Hospital in KZN.
To ensure that the provincial plan is executed with military precision, Zikalala said they would develop a checklist that would ensure that “nothing falls through the cracks”.
He vowed that the country and the province would overcome the virus.
Further outlining the whole plan with the theme “Siyayinqoba i-Corona Virus Covid-19”, Zikalala said the command team would be chaired by himself and coordinated by Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu.
“This is the command team of the province that will be meeting at least twice a week but processing issues that will be coming from clusters. Each cluster will have to meet at least a week.
"This week we expect each cluster to look at what is the impact, the threats and possible intervention arising from this situation. So those who deal with the economy as a whole, be it economic development, agriculture and all other departments will look on what is the impact of this and then develop some intervention. Some interventions will be short term and some will have to be long term,” said Zikalala.