Police arrest Ladysmith’s first confirmed Covid-19 patient
Police and health officials arrived at his home
Ladysmith’s first confirmed Covid-19 patient was arrested by Ladysmith police last night (March 24).
Heavily-armed police, together with Department of Health officials, arrived at the patient’s home in the early evening.
The patient, a 39-year-old man, was placed under arrest because he failed to adhere to strict self-quarantine rules after returning to South Africa from a trip to Asia.
According to a police source, he had been warned at the airport to self-isolate for 14 days and get tested regularly for Covid-19. He breached these conditions and after testing positive for Covid-19, police and health officials had no choice but to arrest him.
Also read: First confirmed case of Covid-19 in Ladysmith
Anyone who returns from any high-risk country can be asked by officials to self-isolate for a minimum period of 14 days.
Speaking to the Covid-19 patient’s wife, she said she is still traumatised and in shock after seeing her husband being put in the back of a police van. The wife explained that her husband was taken to the police station and thereafter taken by ambulance to Grey’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg, with a police escort following the ambulance.
Currently, the man is receiving medical treatment and undergoing more tests.
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