Covid-19 cases on the rise among Limpopo professionals
'It is with regret that out of the 180 infections, 20 are health workers – five doctors and 15 nurses,' said Premier Stanley Mathabatha.
Picture for illustration. Limpopo Premier, Chupu Stanley Mathabatha, takes a walkabout during a Covid-19 awareness campaign in Malamulele, 4 May 2020.
The Limpopo provincial government and its provincial coronavirus command council are concerned about the escalating number of professionals, such as nurses, police officers, mineworkers and doctors, testing positive for Covid-19, which is caused by the coronavirus.
The matter was discussed during a command council meeting this week.
SA had, at that stage, recorded more than 50,000 cases of Covid-19, with about 1,000 deaths.
Limpopo had experienced an upswing in infections – 263 cases and three deaths. The province’s recovery rate stood at more than 175 with 85 active cases.
“It is with regret that out of the 180 infections, 20 are health workers – five doctors and 15 nurses,” said Premier Stanley Mathabatha.
So far, more than 19,000 tests had been conducted in Limpopo, he said. The province had 5.6 million people and a lot still needed to be done.
According to Mathabatha, Vhembe, the most populous district in Limpopo, had the lowest infection rate. The Sekhukhune district, with about 1.2 million people, topped the list with 133 cases.
The South African Police Service (Saps) was concerned about the number of police officers who had tested positive for Covid-19.
According to national police spokesperson, Brigadier Vish Naidoo, 1,122 police officers had tested positive, as of a week ago.
“Of the total, 735 members were still active while 377 had recovered. We have so far lost 10 members,” he said.
The Limpopo council claimed the reopening of schools had been a success, with only 42 schools being unable to open.
Council members were told “most of the challenges were the late provision of water, sanitation and mobile toilets. All these should have been rectified by this weekend.”
The council commended the arrest of culprits responsible for some of the 165 burglaries in schools across the province.
About 6,000 hospital beds across the province had been made available in the event of a serious Covid-19 outbreak.
– news@citizen.co.za
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