A police officer arrests two people that couldn't explain why they were outside during a patrol by SAPS and the Army in South Hills, Johannesburg , 8 April 2020 during the lockdown amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Picture: Neil McCartney. Image for illustrative purpose only.
National police commissioner General Khehla Sitole said 12 police officers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Sitole said this while accompanying Police Minister Bheki Cele on a visit to the rural Eastern Cape town of Engcobo.
He said the 12 officers tested positive for Covid-19 during regular SAPS testing processes. They are receiving the necessary treatment.
“We are looking after them. As and when that occurs, we then give them the necessary attention. So the 12 that I was referring to, are part and parcel of our own testing processes that take place,” the commissioner said.
Sitole declined to give any information about which provinces the police officers were based in. He also refused to state if the infections happened while on duty.
“What is important to us is that we take care of our members. We make sure they receive the necessary care and treatment,” he said.
This came as Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced that the Covid-19 death toll rose to 24, with the number of cases at 2,003.
Mkhize said deaths had only happened in KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, Gauteng and the Free State.
The youngest Covid-19 victim was 41, Mkhize said. He noted that the majority of deaths were people with pre-existing ailments, and the real cause of death may have been that pre-existing condition
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