WATCH LIVE | Inter-ministerial committee elaborates on 21-day lockdown

An inter-ministerial task team will on Tuesday give an elaborate explanation on what a 21-day lockdown means for South Africans.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a nationwide lockdown on Monday night. This step, which the president said was drastic but necessary, will see millions of South Africans restricted to their homes and many services unavailable.

The department of health announced that the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in South Africa had risen to 402 by March 23.

Of the cases, 207 are in Gauteng. The Western Cape has the second most cases, with 100, which makes them the two coronavirus hotspots in SA. KwaZulu-Natal, where the first cases were reported, has 60 cases.

This is according to health minister Zweli Mkhize on Monday afternoon.

The virus has now spread to all nine provinces, he announced.

“Fellow South Africans, as of today, South Africa has 402 confirmed cases of Covid-19,” said Mkhize. “This means there has been an increase of 128 from [Sunday's] announcement.” 

According to the age profile of the confirmed cases, the age group hardest hit is 31- 40 years, with 69 confirmed cases, followed by those aged 51-60 years, with 63 cases.