Publications
Partners
Despite government’s appeals for calm in the face of the country’s first three confirmed cases of the coronavirus (Covid-19), South Africa is still gripped by panic, fear and hysteria.
Three people – two in KwaZulu-Natal and one in Gauteng – have tested positive for the virus, which has infected more than 103 000 people and claimed more than 3 500 lives around the world.
Most of the deaths have been in China, but the virus has spread rapidly in Europe, Asia, Australasia and North America in the past fortnight.
So far, there have been no deaths recorded in Africa, where several countries have confirmed infections.
In South Africa, government is pulling out all the stops to contain the virus, including designating specialist hospitals for quarantine and treatment.
It is also working to bring back 184 South Africans who are trapped in the city of Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the virus.
They will be quarantined in a remote location, but government first has to consult with the fearful communities nearby.
At the same time, the authorities have traced the full complement of the 10-member party who arrived from Italy, with two of them testing positive.
They have been placed in self-isolation while their results are awaited. Members of the group are based mostly in Johannesburg, Pretoria and KwaZulu-Natal.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said that, since being traced, the 10 people have “remained in isolation to avoid any further contact with third parties”.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed that 241 South Africans had already been tested for the virus, but the department of health declined to say how many South Africans were currently being quarantined.
Mkhize has repeatedly stated that the confirmation of cases of Covid-19 indicated the strength of the country’s surveillance and health systems to detect and rapidly identify cases.
He said the frenzy over the outbreak of potential infections was unwarranted, and had been spurred on by a sometimes irresponsible media, as well as fake news and social media.
FIRST VICTIM SPEAKS OUT
On Thursday, Hilton, Durban, resident Mark Roe-Scott (38) found out he was the first South African to have officially contracted the virus.
Dr Robyn Reed, Roe-Scott’s doctor, told City Press’ sister paper Rapport that, early this week, she suspected that her patient had the virus after he told her that he had recently returned to South Africa after being in Italy with friends and family.
“I then told him it would be good to get him tested. I contacted the NICD – something all doctors are required to do if they suspect a patient has the virus. After the NICD confirmed that he complied with the criteria for a test, he was sent for testing at a laboratory. The positive result came back on Thursday.
“Ampath Laboratories, which did the testing, said it is required to inform the department of health.”
Reed told Roe-Scott that the results needed to be verified, but said it was possible that he might have Covid-19.
The test was then confirmed.
Read: SA confirms first case of the coronavirus
Roe-Scott said yesterday that, since going into self-isolation, his biggest challenge was keeping himself busy.
He had “felt very weak and tired, and my body has been incredibly painful”.
“I also had a fever,” he said.
But his health has since improved.
“I have really felt a lot better over the past two days and I can feel that I am getting better,” he said.
Since the diagnosis, Reed and the nurse who assisted her have also been required to quarantine themselves for two weeks.
“But I feel absolutely fine, and neither myself nor the nurse are sick. I am working in my garden and find all the fuss very irritating,” Reed told Rapport.
A thermal scanner at KwaZulu-Natal’s King Shaka International Airport did not pick up any fever symptoms in Roe-Scott.
This was also true of a Gauteng woman, who passed through OR Tambo International Airport this week, who turned out to have the virus.
On Sunday, Roe-Scott’s wife also tested positive for the virus.
TRACING POSSIBLE CARRIERS
Just as the country was grappling with the KwaZulu-Natal situation, a second person was also confirmed by Mkhize yesterday to have contracted Covid-19.
The 39-year-old woman from Gauteng was part of the same group who had travelled from Italy.
She is said to have been admitted to one of the three public hospitals earmarked to treat Covid-19 patients in Gauteng.
A frantic effort is now under way to trace all the contacts of the second person confirmed to have contracted coronavirus.
City Press understands that the Johannesburg woman travelled through OR Tambo International Airport, whereas others from the trip travelled through Dubai to KwaZulu-Natal.
The woman, who has asked for confidentiality, is exhibiting mild symptoms.
And now there is a rush to contact those whom she might have been in contact with.
“If she has kids, it must be found out where they go to school. If she has a domestic worker, it must be found out where she lives and who she, too, has been in touch with,” a source close to the process said.
“From what we know, this person was found as part of contact tracing for the first patient. Two tests have been done on the group, and they both tested positive. The rest of the group has also been tested and their results are likely to be out soon,” the source added.
Read: ‘Covid-19 can be prevented, controlled and cured. Learn from China’
But the source pointed to a flaw in South Africa –government cannot legally force people to self-isolate, the possible patient has to be willing to do so.
“Self-isolation is easy to recommend, but hard to enforce. The problem is that a person can decide not to listen.”
It is still unclear exactly on what date the 184 nationals currently living under lockdown conditions in Wuhan will be coming back to South Africa and in which facility they will be placed under quarantine.
To date, the facility in which they will be housed has still not been finalised.
City Press understands that considerations and negotiations regarding securing an appropriate facility to quarantine the nationals for 21 days hinge on how safe the community living around that facility feels, as well as on the costs of the facility.
The health department would also not be drawn into saying whether the seven- to 10-day period it had stated it would take to repatriate the nationals meant that they would be back this week or not.
“The minister said he would let the nation know when the plane leaves and asked that you [the media] give the interministerial committee space to do the work that needs to be done,” said health department spokesperson Lwazi Manzi yesterday.
“The interministerial committee tasked with the repatriation mission is fulfilling their mandate, as is expected of them.”
Mkhize told a press conference on Friday that there were a number of factors to finalise, including supply chain issues and contractual obligations, details of flights and getting permission from various quarters.
“We need to make sure that these things are impeccable,” he said.
City Press, however, understands that a task team, comprising the departments of health, social development, home affairs and international affairs – as well as the SA Police Service and the SA National Defence Force – is running the project.
THE NEED FOR EDUCATION
Meanwhile, Limpopo Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba made an impassioned plea yesterday for communities to educate themselves about the disease and accept those who are returning from China.
This weekend, 16 students from the Capricorn FET College returned home from a two-year construction course in the Chinese province of Henan and were shunned by their own families.
In Henan, they had been placed under strict lockdown and were, according to the MEC, thoroughly quarantined and tested before they were released.
This means that they tested negative for Covid-19, but will remain in self-isolation for 14 days as an extra precaution.
“Unfortunately, some parents were rejecting their own children out of fear … We cannot be discriminating against people on that level. It was quite sad. But after a debrief and a lot of explaining to the families, they did take them back home with them,” she said.
Ramathuba told City Press that families had been provided with facial masks and the direct phone numbers of authorities so they could call should they identify symptoms of the disease.
“These are our children. They came back with skills in construction that will help our local economy. They must not feel like foreigners in their country of birth,” she said.
Manzi also clarified why the students were not placed in further quarantine in South Africa, the way those who are arriving from Wuhan will be.
“China at large represents a relatively low risk of exposure, compared with the province of Hubei, in which Wuhan is located. The high-risk exposure area is the city of Wuhan. Since the outbreak, we have had people flying in and out of China every day. There is no restriction on travel or trade.
“In any event, anyone travelling from China is not permitted to purchase a flight unless they have been screened by Chinese authorities,” she said.
FEAR GRIPS THE COUNTRY
In the wake of growing panic over South Africa’s first confirmed case of Covid-19, some residents in the quaint, affluent town of Hilton – where Roe-Scott resides – have told City Press that they are “scared” and “terrified for my children”.
First responders from around the province have also questioned the state of readiness of their own training and facilities.
This week, City Press contacted the four designated referral hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal expected to handle any positive Covid-19 cases.
Only one hospital appeared to be ready. Another’s phone went unanswered.
At another, a concerned caller was told to avoid public gatherings and to “boost your immune system – take vitamin C and eat fruit”.
And, while the shelves in many of Durban’s retail stores have been emptied of hand sanitiser and hygiene wipes – which may be just an indication of caution – it is clear that some in the medical profession are themselves ill-informed and panicking.
Two nurses – each having worked at Durban’s Addington Hospital for more than 10 years – and another staff member told City Press that they were “scared” of contracting the virus as they believed they had not received sufficient training.
Addington is one of the province’s designated coronavirus treatment hospitals.
“A mother and her son came in for testing [on Friday]. They were put in the isolation ward and bloods and swabs were done. Only the senior nurses can handle [suspected Covid-19 patients],” said a nurse.
“Both went home afterwards to go into self-isolation. The mother looked okay, but the son looked sick. The people from the NICD were at the hospital [on Friday morning] to have a meeting. There is no cure for this thing, so we are scared,” added the nurse, saying that gloves and masks would offer little protection.
The other nurse said: “I am scared of this virus. We do not have enough protective clothing. We are not trained to deal with coronavirus; it is all new.
“The matron told us that we must be ready if we have to work with the patients. We are not expected to refuse, but if I am allocated a patient with the virus, I am going to refuse. I need training and protective clothing. I have to think of myself and my family.”
The other staff member said: “We were told that we are expecting another potential case. The person was referred from Tongaat clinic. We are not ready for this.”
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Get in touchCity Press | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rise above the clutter | Choose your news | City Press in your inbox | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City Press is an agenda-setting South African news brand that publishes across platforms. Its flagship print edition is distributed on a Sunday. |
