Facts in Q&A format

A South African man was arrested after claiming, in a video, that swabs were being used globally to spread the new coronavirus. He told South Africans to resist getting tested.There is no evidence that test kits in South Africa have been contaminated....

South Africa was not yet participating in vaccine trials for Covid-19, health minister Zweli Mkhize said on 7 April. But it is part of a study of the World Health Organization to see if existing treatments can help fight the virus....

If true, this would have been widely reported. The World Health Organization has not recommended any medication to treat or cure Covid-19 to date....

No. Form B, which was shared on social media, applies in Cyprus. In South Africa, staff who perform an essential service have to carry a permit. A permit is not required for people who go to collect medicine or buy groceries.More: Do South Africans need ‘proof’ of reason when they leave home und...

On 2 April, the government of the Western Cape province said it would allow the sale of cigarettes during lockdown, provided that these are bought along with food.Premier Alan Winde said this was how the province interpreted the national government’s regulations.However, during a media briefing la...

Update (09/04/2020): On 9 April, the president announced an extension of the lockdown until the end of April.At a media briefing on 2 April, the minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said it was too early to say whether the lockdown would be extended. �...

Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, minister of communications and digital technologies, told a media briefing on 2 April that the lockdown regulations allowed the government to obtain the location information for a cellphone number if the owner had tested positive for Covid-19. The minister of cooperative gov...

There is no scientific basis to claims that lemon – whether mixed with baking soda or boiled for steam – cures Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. More: No, lemon and baking soda mix doesn’t cure Covid-19 ...