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Eastern Cape health MEC Sindiswa Gomba has bemoaned the return of an influx of people from provinces where the highest numbers of Covid-19 coronavirus infections have been recorded.
Many people from the Eastern Cape work in other provinces, particularly in the Western Cape and Gauteng – which, coincidentally, have the highest numbers of infections.
Speaking to City Press this week, Gomba said officials had picked up high traffic volumes after the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday that a lockdown would be implemented by government from midnight on Thursday.
Gomba said many people had been desperately trying to beat that deadline.
“We are worried. Since we set up roadblocks on our borders, the number of people [entering the province], particularly from the Western Cape, is really concerning us, especially given the fact that the provinces they are coming from are some of the areas with the most infections.
“But we have been prescreening at these roadblocks, and those found to have a high temperature have been given special attention,” she said.
Gomba said that after the 21-day lockdown came into effect, provincial authorities would deal only with people already in the province as no one else would be allowed to enter.
“But we are not ruling out the possibility that we may have people who have entered the province who will only test positive once already inside our borders,” she said.
Gomba confirmed that, as things stood, the Eastern Cape had two cases of people with Covid-19. She said both had contracted the virus after having taken trips overseas.
The first patient is a 29-year-old woman who recently visited Germany. She is currently under quarantine at a public hospital.
The other is a 26-year-old woman who recently returned from Italy, where she works. She is currently being isolated in one of the health department’s hospitals. The MEC said both patients were stable.
Gomba said reports of a person who had allegedly tested positive and broken quarantine rules by roaming the streets of East London were not true and it was fake news posted on social media.
One of Gomba’s biggest fears is that the virus will infiltrate the province’s rural areas.
“As we speak, I am at Nqadu Great Place in Willowvale to plead with traditional leaders to communicate with their subjects and warn them about the dangers of this virus, so that we can prevent it from getting into our rural areas.
“We know that our villages are situated far apart and that our people in those areas may be misinformed about this issue,” she said.
Gomba has assured the province’s residents that they will be able to access healthcare even during the lockdown, as all essential services will be operational.
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