The 11 vehicles allocated for us by the South African Red Cross Society come from Jaguar Land Rover’s Experience centre. The vehicles will be able to be used free of charge and be available nationwide for the Red Cross volunteers to deploy to areas in need of their services. For now, the volunteers will engage communities and educate on how the virus is transmitted and the steps to take to prevent the virus from spreading throughout these remote communities.
Continuously exercising the social distance prevention rule, the teams will utilize megaphones to communicate with larger groups within the communities that do not have access to social, digital and traditional media. Not only will the SARCS volunteers focus on demystifying myths on COVID-19 and promoting healthy hygiene methods, but the teams will also use the vehicles to conduct contact tracing. This involves testing those who have been in contact with someone who tested positive and then identifying everyone that these patients might have been in contact with. Further supporting communities, SARCS will distribute food parcels and buy groceries for those in need.
The South African Red Cross Society has 35 operational branches spread across all the provinces and is made up from 6000 volunteers and 400 staff members. Qualified in disaster management operations, first aid, health and care and community engagement and accountability the South African Red Cross Society is perfect in assisting against the spreading of this virus but relies on funding and support from the private sector. Donate online at www.redcross.org.za/donate/
