KZN premier Sihle Zikalala said he believes that KZN will move to level three.
Zikalala said he believes that the province is making a positive impact with the programmes they have put in place to fight the pandemic.
He was speaking at a media briefing in Mayville, Durban on Sunday.
He said since the lockdown was announced they saw the increase in number of cases but now there is a steady declining in the number of new cases and number of deaths.
"We are a province that attract tourists hence at the beginning, most of our cases were imported cases," said Zikalala.
He said the Lockdown has slowed the infection rate.
"In just a few short months, KZN has implemented mass screening and testing programmes where more than 2.4 million people have been screened for the virus. More than 59 000 people have been tested. 1 373 confirmed cases, and 806 recoveries," said Zikalala.
He said there has been 45 deaths.
"The numbers of recoveries is increasing and we are pleased to see this trend," said Zikalala.
He said they have managed to prepare more than 6 400 beds for isolation, quarantine, high care and ICU throughout the province.
"Last Sunday we had 608 people who had recovered. We had 38 patients in Private facilities, and 64 in public. We had 40 deaths. This week, the number of recoveries stands at 806," said Zikalala.
He said these recoveries give them hope that the virus can be defeated.
"On the 16 May KZN recorded 17 new cases," said Zikalala.
He said they need to work more to curb the spread in eThekwini, Ilembe and Umgungundlovu as these are to be closely monitored.
"The eThekwini has 866 of the province’s positive cases, followed by Ilembe at 326, and Umgungundlovu at 64," he said.
He said they have noted that cases occurred in some workplaces including retail shops, bakeries, companies and health care.
"The recent one being a depot in Ethekwini where 39 cases were reported and five have recovered," he said.
However, Zikalala said Inanda Community Health Centre (CHC) was closed following the positive testing of four nurses and one doctor.
"This was done as a safety precaution, and to allow for the decontamination of the facility. We have since tested all employees for Covid-19 and their results are being conveyed to them on a continuous basis. So far, there have been no new positive cases from the facility," he said.
He said employees who test negative will be allowed to return to work after a period of quarantine.
"If any of them test positive, they will not return to work until they test negative," he said.
He said regarding the General Gizenga Mpanza Regional Hospital in Stanger that was closed a week ago will open from tomorrow (18 May).
He said the hospital was temporarily closed following the positive testing of nine mothers, 42 workers, babies and hospital staff.
"We wish to thank the people of KwaDukuza for their patience and co-operation while this facility remained closed," he said.
He said the Province has adequate PPE stock at every facility enough to cope with a demand for more than a month. "At this stage we can confirm that we have no shortage of PPE," he said.
He said level three means more business sectors will open, use of public transport to increase therefore it requires people to be vigilant.
"There are strong indications that as KZN all our regions may move to level three," he said.
He said however, everyone will have to comply with preventing infections.
"Level three comes with a lot of movements," said Zikalala.
He said all businesses have to be sanitised, there must be proof that social distancing can be done in the place of work and in public, sanitisation and handwashing facilities for consumers and staff must be available.
The whole idea of a lockdown is not to cure the virus but to slow it down while trying to find effective ways to deal with it.
