CAPE TOWN -
People living in Cape Town who are younger than 55 with no serious underlying medical conditions may no longer be tested for Covid-19.
This is according to the head of the health department in the Western Cape Dr Keith Cloete.
Cloete was cited in a radio interview where confirmed a change in the province’s testing policy. At the moment only the provincial and City health teams have implemented this new policy which has been brought forward to ease the backlog in testing.
The Western Cape has topped the number of Covid-19 infection. On Tuesday the province's more than 23 000 cases.
Those who now qualify for tests are:
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Those already in hospital with Covid-19 symptoms
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Healthcare workers with Covid-19 symptoms;
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People who are older than 55 with diabetes or hypertension and Covid-19 symptoms;
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People who are younger than 55 with underlying conditions and Covid-19 symptoms;
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People who live in a care home or an old age home with Covid-19 symptoms.
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Those who are younger than 55, but have comorbidity, like diabetes, are still considered a higher risk.
"If you're younger than 55 and you have symptoms, assume you have Covid-19... After 14 days, you'll be fine... There's no purpose in getting a test," Cloete said in the interview.
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