Mthatha buildings close as Covid-19 infections mount

Covid-19 infections have closed a hospital, radio station and a section of the municipal traffic department in Mthatha.

KSD municipal bosses shut down the eNatis department after an employee tested positive and Mthatha's oldest community radio station, UCR FM, went off air after a staffer came down with the virus. In addition, Gateway Clinic shut its doors after a staffer tested positive for Covid-19.

Municipal spokesperson Sonwabo Mampoza confirmed the vehicle licencing section had been closed.

“Yes I can confirm one person tested positive for coronavirus and the whole building has been closed down,” Mampoza said.

He said 152 employees in the municipality's vehicle testing centre near Fortgale had been screened and tested on Saturday and the municipality was awaiting the results.

UCR station manager Mzwandile Tshandu confirmed on Monday that the station had gone off air on Saturday after a staff member tested positive.

“We are only playing music at the station. We cannot allow staff to come into the studio without the place having been sanitised first,” he said.

He said they hoped to complete the decontamination by the end of Monday but more screening and testing of staff would be done before they could return to work.

He said the staffer who'd tested positive had been quarantined at Mthatha General Hospital.

DispatchLIVE reported last week that the hospital had converted a disused ward into a Covid-19 treatment ward.

Eastern Cape health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo confirmed that the Gateway Clinic in the heart of Mthatha was closed on Monday after getting the results of tests undertaken two weeks ago which indicated a staffer had the virus.

“In terms of regulations, we cannot close a place like a hospital entirely but only a section of it if some has tested positive. The place has to be decontaminated. We have closed Gateway so that we can continue with the decontamination on Tuesday or Wednesday,” said Kupelo.

Mthatha Ratepayers & Residents Association spokesperson Madyibi Ngxekana said Mthatha residents were worried about the hike in infections.

“They just seem to be going up. I see us going back to level 5 instead of level 1.”

Ngxekana urged health authorities to do a proper check of all health facilities, saying he suspected the numbers could be much higher than were reported.

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