Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth has been identified as the quarantine facility for the Eastern Cape should SA be affected by the deadly coronavirus sweeping the globe.
Eastern Cape department of health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said yesterday that the department had activated its outbreak response team as fears of the coronavirus continued to grip the world.
“While this is a precautionary measure, this means the Eastern Cape is ready to deal and successfully treat anyone that might have the virus,” Kupelo said.
“Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth has been identified as the quarantine facility in the province.
“Nelson Mandela Academic hospital Mthatha and Frere hospital in East London have also been given holding facility status.”
Kupelo said it was important to note there had been no reported cases of people contracting the virus in SA.
He said: “We would like to allay any fears and assure Eastern Cape citizens that our highly trained medical personnel are ready should the virus be detected anywhere in the province.
“Just like health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize announced [yesterday], our dedicated and highly skilled doctors and nurses will treat every flu symptom with extra caution as it is better to overreact than to under-diagnose.”
Kupelo said the department was calling on people experiencing flu symptoms to visit clinics so they could be examined and treated.
“We will continue to remain on high alert throughout the province,” he added.
Meanwhile, Botswana, which borders SA, announced its first suspected case of the virus yesterday.
The case was registered at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport after the arrival of an Ethiopian Airways flight from China, with the passenger involved placed under quarantine at the Block 8 Clinic in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone.
The country’s ministry of health and wellness said it would monitor the situation closely in consultation with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and keep the public updated.
Mkhize reassured South Africans yesterday that all precautions were being taken to mitigate the risks of the virus, including the referral of airline passengers to nurses on their arrival in the country if they had elevated temperatures.
“At this stage there are no reports of South Africans who contracted the virus,” he reiterated.
“We have remained vigilant on developments regarding the movement and behaviour of the viral infection across the world, and continue to engage the international fraternity to better understand how the virus behaves and its health effects,” Mkhize said at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Johannesburg.
By yesterday 213 deaths and thousands of cases had been reported in China.
As more cases emerge around the globe, the WHO has declared the outbreak an international public health emergency.
Mkhize said after the last briefing earlier this week that dedicated staff had been working exclusively on heading off any potential threat to SA citizens posed by the coronavirus.
“There will be added personnel and resources, though we had already capacitated ourselves for this eventuality and so we would not find ourselves wanting”.
Emergency operation centres have been designated across all nine provinces to help manage a possible outbreak of the virus.
He said health professionals who had dealt with outbreaks in the past would be sent for refresher courses, and general information would be sent to clinics and nurses.
Mkhize said the centres had been chosen for their ability to isolate, manage, contain and conduct research on suspected or confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
He said special measures had been implemented at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport, where travellers on direct flights from China and those who had travelled to the epicentre of the outbreak, Wuhan, in the past 14 days, were required to complete a questionnaire for possible tracing.
Mkhize said 55 travellers were found to have an elevated temperature and were referred to nurses for further assessment.
He said 14 were from China, one from Thailand and 40 were from non-endemic countries.
“No travellers were found to have symptoms consistent with the coronavirus and none required isolation.
“Even ordinary flu is treated [with] suspicion; it is always better to over-suspect than to under-diagnose,” he said.
In the past 24 hours, 14 samples had been submitted to the NICD for investigation and all tested negative for the virus.
Mkhize said he was also aware of two South Africans who were under a 14-day quarantine in Tianjin after being moved from Wuhan.
He said the department of international relations and co-operation had established a 24-hour hotline for South Africans living in Wuhan to contact the SA embassy in China.
Frere, Livingstone, NMA hospitals named coronavirus quarantine zones
Image: ESA ALEXANDER/SUNDAY TIMES
Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth has been identified as the quarantine facility for the Eastern Cape should SA be affected by the deadly coronavirus sweeping the globe.
Eastern Cape department of health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said yesterday that the department had activated its outbreak response team as fears of the coronavirus continued to grip the world.
“While this is a precautionary measure, this means the Eastern Cape is ready to deal and successfully treat anyone that might have the virus,” Kupelo said.
“Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth has been identified as the quarantine facility in the province.
“Nelson Mandela Academic hospital Mthatha and Frere hospital in East London have also been given holding facility status.”
Kupelo said it was important to note there had been no reported cases of people contracting the virus in SA.
He said: “We would like to allay any fears and assure Eastern Cape citizens that our highly trained medical personnel are ready should the virus be detected anywhere in the province.
“Just like health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize announced [yesterday], our dedicated and highly skilled doctors and nurses will treat every flu symptom with extra caution as it is better to overreact than to under-diagnose.”
Kupelo said the department was calling on people experiencing flu symptoms to visit clinics so they could be examined and treated.
“We will continue to remain on high alert throughout the province,” he added.
Meanwhile, Botswana, which borders SA, announced its first suspected case of the virus yesterday.
The case was registered at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport after the arrival of an Ethiopian Airways flight from China, with the passenger involved placed under quarantine at the Block 8 Clinic in Botswana’s capital, Gaborone.
The country’s ministry of health and wellness said it would monitor the situation closely in consultation with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and keep the public updated.
Mkhize reassured South Africans yesterday that all precautions were being taken to mitigate the risks of the virus, including the referral of airline passengers to nurses on their arrival in the country if they had elevated temperatures.
“At this stage there are no reports of South Africans who contracted the virus,” he reiterated.
“We have remained vigilant on developments regarding the movement and behaviour of the viral infection across the world, and continue to engage the international fraternity to better understand how the virus behaves and its health effects,” Mkhize said at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Johannesburg.
By yesterday 213 deaths and thousands of cases had been reported in China.
As more cases emerge around the globe, the WHO has declared the outbreak an international public health emergency.
Mkhize said after the last briefing earlier this week that dedicated staff had been working exclusively on heading off any potential threat to SA citizens posed by the coronavirus.
“There will be added personnel and resources, though we had already capacitated ourselves for this eventuality and so we would not find ourselves wanting”.
Emergency operation centres have been designated across all nine provinces to help manage a possible outbreak of the virus.
He said health professionals who had dealt with outbreaks in the past would be sent for refresher courses, and general information would be sent to clinics and nurses.
Mkhize said the centres had been chosen for their ability to isolate, manage, contain and conduct research on suspected or confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
He said special measures had been implemented at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport, where travellers on direct flights from China and those who had travelled to the epicentre of the outbreak, Wuhan, in the past 14 days, were required to complete a questionnaire for possible tracing.
Mkhize said 55 travellers were found to have an elevated temperature and were referred to nurses for further assessment.
He said 14 were from China, one from Thailand and 40 were from non-endemic countries.
“No travellers were found to have symptoms consistent with the coronavirus and none required isolation.
“Even ordinary flu is treated [with] suspicion; it is always better to over-suspect than to under-diagnose,” he said.
In the past 24 hours, 14 samples had been submitted to the NICD for investigation and all tested negative for the virus.
Mkhize said he was also aware of two South Africans who were under a 14-day quarantine in Tianjin after being moved from Wuhan.
He said the department of international relations and co-operation had established a 24-hour hotline for South Africans living in Wuhan to contact the SA embassy in China.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos