Pathology laboratories say the national lockdown has bought them some time to plan ahead for the worst as the country is yet to see a peak in COVID-19 infections.
They are looking at getting equipment and devices to test for coronavirus that are quicker and will drastically reduce the turnaround time to less than an hour.
The lockdown was recently extended until the end of the month. Head of Virology at Lancet Laboratories, Professor Eftyhia Vardas, says other countries are way ahead of South Africa with technology.
” There are newer tests coming up that are much faster with a 45 minute turnaround time and these are currently being stockpiled by the US. There’s a big problem for us because we are not a priority country. Obviously, if we had a turnaround time of 45 minutes it would make a massive impact on the management of this epidemic in SA, so we have to keep those pathways open and access to tests that are far quicker than what we have at this time.”
Mass screening and testing
The Department of Health in North West took its mass screening and testing for COVID-19 to Rustenburg earlier on Wednesday. The department says movement of people within provinces is worrisome, as it poses more threat of further spread of the coronavirus. It says some of the people who tested positive for this fast-spreading virus were found to have either left the province and came back, or travelled to the province from other provinces.
Nine patients tested positive in Geelhoudpark township, four in Hartebeespoort and one in the Brits area. Health MEC Madoda Sambatha says most of the confirmed cases are contracted from travels across provinces.
” People who go to other provinces and people who come to our province have an element of contribution to our infections. Those who travelled outside and then came back, we tested them and those who tested positive were quarantined. In the 22 (that tested positive), 10 have recovered.”
