Covid-19: DA welcomes wider testing in Gauteng

The Democratic Alliance has said that they welcome the ramping up of Covid-19 testing in Gauteng, including the testing of the most vulnerable groups and those who do not have symptoms.

“This is important as it is thought that more than 50 per cent of those who are infected are ‘silent spreaders’ as they are asymptomatic,” said DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC Jack Bloom.

Bloom said that previously the tests were mainly done on people who exhibited flu-like symptoms, had a history of travel or had been in contact with someone who had confirmed positive.

“These narrow criteria should have been expanded earlier as they resulted, for instance, in only 19 tests conducted out of 262 000 people screened in Tshwane,” he said.

Bloom also welcomed a plan to test at potential virus hotspots such as hospitals, taxis, supermarkets, hostels and informal settlements. It’s a simple fact that the more tests are done, the more cases will be found. We can only stay ahead of the curve by being proactive and detecting infection hotspots in time to take action to prevent further spread,” he concluded.

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