The City of Tshwane has intensified screening for coronavirus (Covid-19) at all its clinics, with thousands of people being checked for the virus daily, spokesperson Selby Bokaba said on Friday. 

“The City of Tshwane has begun embarking on an aggressive screening campaign for Covid-19 at all our clinics in a bid to identify people with symptoms and separate them from those without symptoms. This move is in line with the announcement made by President Cyril Ramaphosa for Covid-19 joint mass screening on Monday,” said Bokaba. 

“Currently, all 24 clinics run and managed by the City of Tshwane have been screening 4 400 people on average per day as part of an intensified drive to control and curb the spread of the virus.” 

A prerequisite for testing is that each person must first be screened through a questionnaire and possibly temperature checks. 

“To this end, fieldworkers will be visiting homes to screen communities for the coronavirus symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath.  Communities will be asked questions about the symptoms and their travel history, in addition to temperatures being checked,” said Bokaba. 

“It is important for our communities to understand that testing will only be limited to those persons that qualify as per the screening questionnaire, meaning that, not everybody will qualify to be tested. The screening outcome will determine whether a test is required.” 

He said people who exhibit Covid-19 symptoms will be referred to identified clinics for testing.  

“Those that have tested positive for the coronavirus, but have mild symptoms, will remain in isolation at home if their home environment is suitable for self-isolation or will be placed at a facility provided by government. Those with severe symptoms will be immediately transferred to hospitals,” said Bokaba.

He said the fieldworkers will also be “rapidly deployed” to trace people that have been in contact with those confirmed to be infected with the virus. The screening and testing campaign will help Tshwane to people who exhibit symptoms of the coronavirus quickly, to curtail its spread. 

“To give effect to President Ramaphosa’s announcement, we will be actively involved in joint mass screening, tracing and testing through our various teams, which include, inter alia, Outbreak Response Team and Contact Tracing Teams,” said Bokaba. 

He added that during this drive to protect the community, Tshwane was “very mindful that our health care workers are our biggest and very important pillar in this fight”. The health workers will be wearing protective equipment such as gloves and masks and using sanitisers to prevent the spread of the virus to communities.  

“The screening, testing and tracing campaign will assist government to monitor and understand the geographical location of the new cases in real-time in our quest to combat the spread of the disease. It is important for our communities to remain in their homes during the 21-day lockdown period and not travel, unless they fall within the category of essential services workers,” said Bokaba. 

Community members who are concerned and have information to share should make use of the Covid-19 toll free hotline for guidance: 080-002-9999.