South Africa warns of coronavirus ‘storm’ as outbreak accelerates across continent

New Covid-19 cases in Africa up 24% in a week after months in which it appeared to have been spared the worst

South Africa's health minister has warned of a storm" arriving and pleaded with the country's 58 million inhabitants to change their behaviour to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Zweli Mkhize said South Africa was still following an optimistic" curve, with the peak of the outbreak likely to be lower than predicted, but warned that within weeks there could be a shortage of beds to treat Covid-19 patients, particularly in the country's most populous and wealthy regions.