More than 100 positive Covid-19 tests at Beitbridge border post

The Limpopo health department is worried that Covid-19 may be spreading rapidly in the winding queues at the Beitbridge border as thousands of people — mostly migrants — queue to get into SA.

There are concerns about the potential impact of the Covid-19 variant from SA spreading in Zimbabwe if the border is reopened. File photo.
There are concerns about the potential impact of the Covid-19 variant from SA spreading in Zimbabwe if the border is reopened. File photo. (Esa Alexander/Sunday Times)

The Limpopo health department is worried that Covid-19 may be spreading rapidly in the winding queues at the Beitbridge border as thousands of people — mostly migrants — queue to get back into SA.

Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba said they had noted that at least 104 people had tested positive for the virus at the border in the past four days.

Her department has now called on all people who have entered SA through the border to self-quarantine before interacting with other people once they reach their destinations.

“With thousands of people stuck for days while waiting for their entry into the country to be processed, the department is worried that the events at the border are fast becoming a superspreader [of the virus],” Ramathuba said.

“Considering the incubation period of the virus, we wish to implore those who will be crossing from Beitbridge to do the right thing and self-quarantine because they have been exposed to a potential superspreader.”

TimesLIVE


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