Covid-19 screening and testing campaign launched
The groups of testing teams will first focus on hot spots where infection rates appeared too high.
Residents have welcomed the announcement by health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize that the government is to launch a nationwide testing campaign in townships in a bid to stop the spread of Covid-19, reported Kathorus Mail.
The authorities are embarking on the screening and testing process in a bid to avoid the potential risk of internal transmission of the virus in congested parts of townships. Many informal settlements around the country are considered fertile breeding ground for the spread of the virus.
“We won’t be going to all townships at the same time. We are targeting those with identified cases of positive people or contacts,” Mkhize said during a media news conference. “We are scaling up the intervention.”
According to Mkhize, groups of testing teams will first focus on hot spots where infection rates appeared too high. They will be supported by a number of non-governmental organisations.
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As the number of infections and people killed by Covid-19 begin to rise, the threat posed by the pandemic is slowly sinking in. A growing percentage of members of the public seem to view screening and testing as the only way in which the spread of the virus can be curbed.
According to Mkhize, health authorities are planning to expand the teams by including community health workers to assist in the campaign. In Alexandria, health workers were reported seen taking swabs from people with symptoms of Covid-19.
Those who expressed mixed feelings about being tested for Covid-19 gave no tangible reasons for their reservations except unconfirmed theories fanned by rumours. However, the most receptive to the tests are the elderly, who believe the process would help improve the current uncertain health conditions.
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