WATCH | Buffalo City rolls out Covid-19 screening drive

The Eastern Cape government has joined the rest of the country in rolling out a massive screening and testing drive for Covid-19.

Buffalo City Metro mayor Xola Pakati encouraged people to use the opportunity to be screened and get a true picture of their status.

He said he believed the drive would provide provincial government  clear insight on the extent of the spread of the virus.

Pakati, who was tested publicly, encouraged people to go for screening “because it is the right thing to do”.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the rollout of the large-scale screening, testing and tracing initiative on Monday.

About 100 field workers visited homes, spaza shops, supermarkets, garages, a clinic and the police station in Gonubie on Monday to screen residents for Covid-19 symptoms.

People with symptoms were tested and those infected will know once the tests have been verified while those who have no or moderate symptoms will remain in isolation at their homes.

“I'll rather test than wait. It is better to be in the know than being in the dark about my coronavirus status because when I know I can get help and help is available,” said Gonubie resident Mteteleli Liwani.

Liwani said the volunteers asked him if he had a cough, sneezing, headache, checked his temperature and asked for his travel history.

BCM council speaker Alfred Mtsi said he decided to test in order to help curb the spread of the pandemic.

“We are living with families so it is safer to know whether you are negative or not. “This is an infectious disease which needs to be treated with care. The reason we are doing the test in pubic is because we want to encourage the public to follow in our footsteps. It is better to practise what we preach,” said Mtsi.

South Africa had 1,749  confirmed cases of Covid-19 by Tuesday afternoon.