Media coverage shows some optimism following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement of a risk-adjusted lockdown level 3. This will be clarified over the next few days which may lead to increased optimism as the economy is set to open up with more industries resuming operations.
South Africa also reached the highest number of positive coronavirus cases exceeding the 80 000 mark, with over 1.2-million tests conducted. Another development making news in the past week was the Eastern Cape Province exceeding 10 000 positive cases, which makes this the third province with more than 10 000 cases of COVID-19. This also talks to how testing has been ramped up across various provinces.
In less than two weeks of schools reopening, there are increased calls for Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga to reconsider the decision as teachers test positive for COVID-19. Gauteng has seen more than 56 schools close as teachers and pupils test positive, which led to teachers’ unions speaking up for the safety of their members. Schools in the Western Cape are also said to be seeing a rise in the number of cases thereby increasing concern among more communities for the health and safety of their children.
The latest infographic features a sample of 3 178 media items collected from online, print and broadcast sources from 10 to 16 June 2020. This week’s infographic is the twelfth in the ongoing series and it shows greater prominence in the number of Western Cape mentions, which still has the highest number of positive coronavirus cases. National media featured the vast amount of COVID-19 coverage which includes online coverage where some of the platforms also have print and other traditional platforms.
Brand Intelligence® firm Ornico has committed its resources to assist the communication industry and will be working closely with the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) and other industry role players to help understand reportage around the pandemic. This will help professional communicators to improve critical messaging and to direct it to relevant audiences.
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