The National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (NUPSAW) has criticised a decision by government for people to self-quarantine themselves, following the coronavirus pandemic.
It says this is an indication that government does not have correct testing equipment at airports and good health systems.
More than 121 500 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world, with 4 383 dying.
The South African government has advocated for self-quarantine as one of the means to control the spread of the virus.
The union says self-confinement for many will be a daunting and impossible task.
The four new cases of #coronavirus have been recorded in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Free State – 1 in each of the four provinces. #coronavirusInSA #Covid_19 https://t.co/5JqnKEms3R #sabcnews
— SABC News Online (@SABCNewsOnline) March 12, 2020
NUPSAW says there are a number of reasons why self-quarantine will not work.
The union says many individuals will find it impossible to remain in confinement for at least two weeks and monitor themselves.
The organisation also says there is a high risk of people passing infections at malls while some will likely ignore medical advice.
NUPSAW says people have been encouraged to regularly wash their hands but some communities do not have access to water.
The union believes that government is not ready to deal with coronavirus.
The map below tracks coronavirus cases across the world
Earlier this week Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize ruled out the possibility of a general lockdown as a precautionary measure in areas where patients of the coronavirus were originally located.
Speaking in an interview with SABC News, Mkhize says a lockdown will only apply if there is proper evidence of the virus spreading, with a large number of people being infected within a specific area.
“I think it’s too early to talk about a lockdown. Wuhan their numbers were very huge that’s why they decided on a lockdown. At the moment you can’t even prove that there’s infection from one person to the other. We keep assessing all these contacts.”
“Let’s assume that you get the first ring of contacts they are all positive you got the next ring of contacts, if you plot that all over the city that means that everywhere there’s infections taking place then you know what you’re talking about.” Additional reporting SABC Digital News
