Tshwane SAPS joint operational committee self-isolating after member tests positive

Members of the South African Police Service’s Joint Operational Committee in Tshwane are in self-isolation after one member tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday, police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo told News24 on Saturday.

Naidoo, however, said that those under self-isolation were “not the whole of Tshwane management”. This comes after News24 received a tip-off that the entire unit was in isolation.

Members of the committee will have to be in self-isolation until 13 May.

“Should they test negative they will return to work on the 14th,” Naidoo added.

News24 reported on Wednesday that the City of Tshwane had closed part of its Disaster Operations Centre, which was set up to bolster its response to the Covid-19 outbreak, after a police officer stationed there tested positive for the virus.

Admitted

Tshwane’s head administrator, Mpho Nawa, said the police officer was tested after being admitted for scheduled treatment unrelated to Covid-19.

“She tested positive after she was screened during routine pre-admission. She may have been asymptomatic,” Nawa added in an earlier report.

In an unrelated case, News24 reported on Friday that the Muizenberg police station on Cape Town had been closed due to a staff member testing positive for Covid-19.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa previously told News24 that the police station was undergoing decontamination on Friday following the case.

In addition, News24 reported on Sunday, 3 May that three police station buildings had to be closed for Covid-19 for decontamination in the Western Cape.

As of Saturday, 9 May 2020, South Africa had 9,420 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with eight new deaths reported, bringing the total death toll to 186.

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