FNB in Newcastle responds to rumours of suspected coronavirus-infected employee

First National Bank’s (FNB) Commercial Branch in Newcastle was closed on Wednesday afternoon, amid rumours that a staff member was being tested for a suspected infection of Covid-19.

Initial reports from members of the community that FNB’s retail outlet in the CBD was closed, proved to be false. It was business as usual at FNB’s Scott Street outlet when journalists visited the premises earlier today and staff confirmed there were no reports of incidents at any of the three retail outlets in Newcastle.

When Newcastle Advertiser visited the bank’s Commercial Branch on Whyte Street, however, the building was locked and the offices appeared empty.

An urgent media query sent to FNB’s media department, to establish if the Commercial Branch was closed following a suspected case of coronavirus, yielded a somewhat ambiguous response from the company’s chief risk officer, Lytania Johnson.

All Johnson would say on the subject of the suspected case of Covid-19 was, “FNB can confirm that its premises in Newcastle continue[s] to operate normally.”

The rest of her response described general precautionary measures put in place at all branches to prevent Covid-19 infections.

“The bank adopts flexible working arrangements in most areas of its businesses and continues to reinforce the adoption of remote working arrangements,” continued Johnson.

“In light of the cases of the coronavirus that have been reported in South Africa, we have increased the frequency of cleaning our premises. Furthermore, most of our campuses are equipped with hand sanitisers and this will be rolled out to our branches as a precautionary measure.”

Newcastle Advertiser pressed for FNB to either confirm that a case of suspected Covid-19 was being tested among its staff, or debunk the report as a rumour, but Johnson merely repeated that employees were encouraged to work remotely as part of the bank’s flexible working arrangements.

Mediclinic Newcastle’s Manager Japie Greyling said no suspected cases of Covid-19 had been reported at the hospital, but it was possible for patients to request a test directly from a laboratory.

Spokesperson for the KwaZulu-Natal department of health Agiza Hlongwane said not every suspected case of Covid-19 was reported to the department, as all medical facilities were aware of the process to be followed in this regard.

“We are informed by the NICD [National Institute of Communicable Diseases] if there is a confirmed case. We will inform the media as soon as we are aware that a case has been confirmed,” said Hlongwane. “To the best of my knowledge, there are no confirmed cases in Newcastle at this stage.”

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