Cape Town police station closed… again, after another coronavirus case

The police station where the first officer in the Western Cape to contract the coronavirus was stationed has been closed again after another tested positive, provincial police said on Thursday.

Athlone police station was expected to reopen on Thursday after another Covid-19 case, spokesperson Brigadier Novella Potelwa said.

The station was closed and decontaminated on Wednesday.

Potelwa said operations had temporarily been relocated to another building on the premises.

The station was first shut when a warrant officer tested positive on 11 April.

Officers on the shift were placed in self-isolation and the station was evacuated and decontaminated.

Less than two kilometres away, the local clinic also reopened on Thursday, Western Cape health department spokesperson Monique Johnstone said.

“To ensure the safety of all staff and patients and to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the Dr Abdurahman Community Day Centre was closed for deep cleaning and sanitation on Wednesday after being exposed to a positive Covid-19 case,” she said.

“Close contacts will be tested for Covid-19 and have been instructed to self-isolate.”

According to provincial government statistics on its Covid-19 dashboard on Thursday, the Western Cape has 7,220 confirmed cases.

Of that, 129 people have died and 2,573 have recovered.

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