40 CONFIRMED CASES OF CORONAVIRUS CASES IN IVORY PARK

The Premier of Gauteng, David Makhura accompanied by the MEC of Health in Gauteng, Bandile Masuku and the MMC of Health in the City of Johannesburg, Eunice Mgcina visited Busy Corner Mall in Ebony Park today the 13th of May 2020.

The purpose of the visit was to asses compliance of shop-owners and shoppers with the Level 4 lockdown regulations including maintaining social distancing and the use of cloth masks.

On the sidelines of the visit. Makhura warned that nearby Ivory Park has been identified as one of the hotspots where non-compliance is rife. He mentioned that people in the area are not on lockdown and some don’t wear face masks.

The Premier warned the people of Ivory Park that they shouldn’t think that COVID-19 is not in the area. He added that they are “40 or so cases of coronavirus in the area”.

“We are Monitoring Ivory Park very closely. We don’t want a situation where people in Ivory Park don’t listen and COVID-19 spreads rapidly. If people don’t comply and the number of infections increase we will localise level 5 lockdown and make it difficult for people to go up and down. We can prevent getting there [to level 5] by cooperating “.

Testing and Screening of COVID-19 was also conducted at the Mall today. Individuals are tested by inserting a swap to the nose. Thereafter, their barcoded swap is stored in a cooler box and sent to the lab. If they are found to be positive, the patient is contacted and isolated from the public. Hundreds of people waited their turn to screen and test at the Mall.