Gauteng Premier David Makhura says the provincial government has trained over 4 000 community healthcare workers to help with tracing efforts. The number of coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 1 280.
Gauteng has the highest number with 584 cases, followed by the Western Cape with 310 cases.
Addressing the media in Johannesburg, Makhura says there are challenges but his government is doing everything in its power to avoid the spread of the virus. He says tracing those who have come into contact with people who have tested positive for COVID-19 has been a priority for his administration.
“Contact tracing is a very important area of our work and we have improved a lot in that regard. We have been worried about the number of contacts that were not traceable. We have increased significantly in tracking down those contacts and this is because of the work of our tracers. We have trained now over 4 000 community healthcare workers who are a very important part of the tracing teams that have been deployed on the ground.”
Makhura says his administration is working on its biggest challenge; mechanisms to minimise the long queues at grocery shops across the province, including spaza shops as the lockdown continues. He says social distancing becomes difficult with the vast number of people turning up to buy food after being paid.
“We started on the first day with some significant difficulties, especially when it comes to the numbers that turn up at shopping centres with people queuing to buy food. We have managed that matter in a particular way. The Executive Council in Gauteng was out throughout the province yesterday (Saturday) to help manage and minimise the risk because the shops are open for selling food and it was month end; an extraordinary number of people turned up at the shops to buy food.”
Statement of the Gauteng Provincial Command Council on the adherence to the 21-Day lockdown regulations and further measures to be taken to flatten the curve #Covid_19 #CoronaVirusSA #GautengCOVID19 #StayHomeSA pic.twitter.com/r3acKAaCq6
— GautengGov (@GautengProvince) March 29, 2020
In the video below, Gauteng Premier David Makhura issues a stern warning to people who left the province before the lockdown.
Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku says the provincial government will be rolling out a mass flu vaccination campaign targeted at the elderly and health workers. Masuku says the elderly will receive flu vaccinations at SASSA pay points from Monday.
“We are going to be in the next three days having SASSA payouts, particularly for the elderly. We have already vaccinated all the people who work in our op centre and also all our community healthcare workers who have been trained as tracers. Tomorrow we are going to also roll out vaccinations for the elderly for flu because it’s important that we vaccinate those who are the most vulnerable in society.”
Masuku says provincial government is ramping up testing and will set up more testing facilities in the province, particularly in high density areas.
“We are rolling out testing sites throughout the province, which the testing will be done in a focused manner in a systemical manner and cost effective. The testing sites we’ll be starting them where there’s a high density of contacts so that we able to improve that aspect. We already have trained 4 437 community healthcare workers who are part of the tracing teams. We are continuously training so that 9 000 or so of them should be on the ground doing to the tracing.”
FACT: #COVID19 is NOT airborne.
The #coronavirus is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks.
To protect yourself:
-keep 1m distance from others
-disinfect surfaces frequently
-wash/rub your ?
-avoid touching your ??? pic.twitter.com/fpkcpHAJx7— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 28, 2020
Gauteng Police Commissioner, Elias Mawela, says more people have been arrested for contravening the lockdown regulations.
“You find that the convener brought together more than 50 people. We have also arrested a lot of people, over 59 people, whereby they didn’t want to confine themselves in their residence and they were just walking. We have arrested a lot of people who were still dealing in intoxicating liquor; they were trading behind the scene. And we have also arrested the taxi operators who were operating outside the operating hours.”
The Gauteng Department of Social Development has assured grant beneficiaries that they will all receive their grants starting from Monday.
In the video below, the Gauteng government says that people moving around will be restricted from doing so.
