Port St Johns retail employee tests positive for Covid-19

An employee at the Port St Johns SuperSpar has tested positive for Covid-19, raising fears about those who may have come into contact with the worker.

Hundreds of customers flock to the store, one of the biggest retailers in Port St Johns, every day. It has been closed since Thursday, according to an employee at the store.  

Eastern Cape health department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo confirmed that the staffer had tested positive.

“The employee came into contact with a person linked to the Majola (village) funeral,” Kupelo said.

That funeral, of March 21, has accounted for a large number of people testing positive for the virus.

In Machibini village,  40  people linked to the  funeral became infected directly or indirectly.

DispatchLIVE called the Spar on Sunday. A man would only identify himself as “Joe” confirmed one of the employees has tested positive for Covid-19.

''Everyone has been tested [for coronavirus] and we are waiting for the results. We are only going to open when it is safe to do so and when we have the results. My friend, I am not a manager but a general assistant who is here to fix things. Otherwise the store is closed and I have no more to say,'' he said.

On Friday, the store was closed and people wearing hazmat suits were seen spraying the building.

Ports St Johns mayor Nomvuzo Mlombile-Cingo said although she was not directly involved, environmental health officers were deployed to assist the store.

''I don't have all the facts with me. I will have feedback only on Monday,'' she said.

At the weekend OR Tambo mayor  Thokozile Sokhanyile visited Majola village. He donated  150 masks, 100 25-litre buckets, six 500l water tanks, 100 bars of soap and 200 bottles of household detergents to residents.

''This will assist people to wash their hands regularly and wear masks all the time,'' said Sokhanyile.

Meanwhile, the number of people who travelled from the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape and tested positive for Covid-19 now stands at 137.

This represents 57 more cases of people who have tested positive who entered the province through the Tsitsikamma and Aberdeen provincial borders during the grace period of interprovincial travelling.

The majority of the new positive cases are in OR Tambo, Buffalo City Metro, Amathole and Graaff-Reinet.

Kupelo said on Sunday teams were tracing and tracking those  people who had come into close contact with them.

Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba said it was concerning that the numbers of positive cases continued to increase.

“Because we cannot get to everyone who recently travelled from other provinces at the same time, we are calling on people to be responsible citizens and contact our 24-hour call centre on 0800-032-364 so that they can be screened and tested if they have any of the symptoms consistent with Covid-19.

On Saturday, the Graaff-Reinet Advertiser newspaper reported that eighteen police officers and eight staff members were  under quarantine at an accommodation establishment in Graaff-Reinet.

Speaking to the unidentified guest house owner, the newspaper said  this followed the positive test results of an  East London public order police officer. The 18 members were tasked to assist at the daily roadblock outside Aberdeen, it said.

Dr Beyers Naudé  mayor Deon de Vos  referred DispatchLIVE's queries to his spokesperson Edwardine Abarder, but Abarder said she  could confirm only one case.

Kupelo referred DispatchLIVE's query to police, but they had not responded at the time of writing.

On a more positive note, Kupelo said medical personnel  had “nursed back to full health” 519 people  in the Eastern Cape who had previously tested positive for the virus”.

“The number of recoveries is promising and shows that testing positive does not mean you will die from this virus. Our health professionals deserve high praise for their hard work during these difficult times. These are small victories that we need to celebrate,” he said.

He said the 110 people quarantined at the Mpekweni and Fish River resorts had all been given a clean bill of health.

DispatchLIVE called the Spar on Sunday. A man would only identify himself as “Joe” confirmed one of the employees has tested positive for Covid-19.

''Everyone has been tested [for coronavirus] and we are waiting for the results. We are only going to open when it is safe to do so and when we have the results. My friend, I am not a manager but a general assistant who is here to fix things. Otherwise the store is closed and I have no more to say,'' he said.

On Friday, the store was closed and people wearing hazmat suits were seen spraying the building.

Ports St Johns mayor Nomvuzo Mlombile-Cingo said although she was not directly involved, environmental health officers were deployed to assist the store.

''I don't have all the facts with me. I will have feedback only on Monday,'' she said.

At the weekend OR Tambo mayor  Thokozile Sokhanyile visited Majola village. He donated  150 masks, 100 25-litre buckets, six 500l water tanks, 100 bars of soap and 200 bottles of household detergents to residents.

''This will assist people to wash their hands regularly and wear masks all the time,'' said Sokhanyile.

Meanwhile, the number of people who travelled from the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape and tested positive for Covid-19 now stands at 137.

This represents 57 more cases of people who have tested positive who entered the province through the Tsitsikamma and Aberdeen provincial borders during the grace period of interprovincial travelling.

The majority of the new positive cases are in OR Tambo, Buffalo City Metro, Amathole and Graaff-Reinet.

Kupelo said on Sunday teams were tracing and tracking those  people who had come into close contact with them.

Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba said it was concerning that the numbers of positive cases continued to increase.

“Because we cannot get to everyone who recently travelled from other provinces at the same time, we are calling on people to be responsible citizens and contact our 24-hour call centre on 0800-032-364 so that they can be screened and tested if they have any of the symptoms consistent with Covid-19.

On Saturday, the Graaff-Reinet Advertiser newspaper reported that eighteen police officers and eight staff members were  under quarantine at an accommodation establishment in Graaff-Reinet.

Speaking to the unidentified guest house owner, the newspaper said  this followed the positive test results of an  East London public order police officer. The 18 members were tasked to assist at the daily roadblock outside Aberdeen, it said.

Dr Beyers Naudé  mayor Deon de Vos  referred DispatchLIVE's queries to his spokesperson Edwardine Abarder, but Abarder said she  could confirm only one case.

Kupelo referred DispatchLIVE's query to police, but they had not responded at the time of writing.

On a more positive note, Kupelo said medical personnel  had “nursed back to full health” 519 people  in the Eastern Cape who had previously tested positive for the virus”.

“The number of recoveries is promising and shows that testing positive does not mean you will die from this virus. Our health professionals deserve high praise for their hard work during these difficult times. These are small victories that we need to celebrate,” he said.

He said the 110 people quarantined at the Mpekweni and Fish River resorts had all been given a clean bill of health.

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