Gift of the Givers’ drive-thru coronavirus testing sites up, but you must meet the criteria
At R755 each, the tests will be conducted by Mullah Laboratories.
Lancet Laboratory Rochester Place nurse Mukhethwa Audry Ramalata tests patients for coronavirus during drive-through testing, 18 March 2020, in Sandton, at the lab. Patients arriving at the facility have all been referred by a doctor to be tested. Picture: Michel Bega
Gift of the Givers is starting its drive-thru Covid-19 testing at four sites, but it is only for people who are referred by a doctor and who meet the criteria.
At R755 each, the tests will be conducted by Mullah Laboratories at these venues:
– Mayfair West (Doctor on site for consultation, if required, at an additional cost);
– Wits University;
– Roshnee (near Vereeniging);
– Ahmed Al-Kadi Private Hospital (Durban)
The fee must be paid by EFT to Mullah Laboratories before the test.
The test is restricted to patients who fit the National Institute for Communicable Diseases’ (NICD) case definition criteria – a history of recent international travel, or contact with a person who tested positive for Covid-19, or who is showing some of the symptoms of the virus.
The test has to be booked via the toll-free number 0800 786 911.
Covid-19 symptoms include a fever, a dry cough, shortness of breath, and other breathing difficulties.
The Department of Health has advised that, in more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.
The NICD defines “close contact” as being within a metre of, or in a closed space for more than 15 minutes with, an infected person.
A person with Covid-19 is still “infectious” from two days before, to 14 days after, their symptoms begin.
Examples are:
– Living in the same household as a person with the virus;
– Working closely in the same environment as the person;
– Sitting in the same classroom as the person;
– Attending the same gathering;
– Providing direct care for a person with Covid-19 without using the proper personal protective equipment;
– Sitting within two seats (1m) in any direction of a person with the virus in any kind of vehicle, including buses, minibus taxis;
– Being served by a crew member in the section of an aircraft where a person with Covid-19 was seated.
News24
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