Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize says two South Africans who were treated for the coronavirus after contracting it on board a ship, are free to return home.
He says the two will not be evacuated, as they are dealing with the 185 South Africans who have been living in the Chinese city of Wuhan, which is the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The pair, who had been working on the Diamond Princess in Japan, tested positive for COVID-19 last month.
Mkhize says there’s only one confirmed case of coronavirus in the country.
“But everything is on course as far as we’re concerned with those members who will be coming back. It’s important to say to South Africans that those people are not infected. We just want to take a precaution because they have to come back. When they do come back, we will keep them in quarantine for 14 days thereafter we’ll test them and make sure that when they go out into the community, they’re fine. There are those on the Diamond Princess ship, the two that were found to be positive. They went for treatment and we were assured that they are now well they must get onto commercial flights and come back,” says Mkhize.
Take the precautions: Wash your hands
Make sure you keep a distance of about a metre and a half from a person with symptoms
Keep disinfectants nearby
Make sure your hands are always clean #Coronavirus— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) March 6, 2020
In this video, Minister Zweli Mkhize says South Africans must be cautious of fake news making its rounds:
COVID-19 Risk Reduction Measures
Since the announcement of the first confirmed case of the virus in KwaZulu-Natal, there has been a sense of public panic with many people looking for information around testing and treatment.
For more on how to reduce the risk of contracting coronavirus, take a look at the following awareness insert:
