Coronavirus in SA: Gift of Givers opens more testing stations

Johannesburg - Gift of the Givers is expanding its mobile Covid-19 testing stations throughout the country. The NGO already has four sites which tests anyone with a doctor's referral letter for just R750.

“Currently we have a facility at Mayfair West and Wits University in Johannesburg, Roshnee, and Ahmed Al Kadi Hospital in Durban,” Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaaz Sooliman said. He added that services commenced on Thursday in Pietermaritzburg, in association with Midlands Medical Centre, at Shelley Beach with MD-24, and in Cape Town with Momentum Metropolitan Holdings.

“More sites are earmarked in the coming days. Mullah Labs in Joburg co-ordinate all the sites, report to the NICD and provide results to the referring doctor,” Dr Sooliman said, adding that all tests are carried out at Molecular Diagnostics Services in Durban, an NICD accredited laboratory.

Sooliman believes that providing assistance to the government and to the most vulnerable sets an example to the country’s NGOs to actively participate in the fight against the pandemic.

“Our mobile testing station initiative will assist the government in meeting the diagnostic demands of Covid-19 by providing NICD-approved lab testing at discounted rates,” he said.

Student doctor Aadil Munga is one of the members of NGO Gift of the Givers screening people at Ahmed Al-Kadi Hospital in Durban. Picture: Motshwari Mofokeng/African News Agency (ANA)

According to Dr Sooliman, the NGO has been appointed by Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize to serve on the advisory panel that deals with lab testing in South Africa.

The large quantity of infected medical waste generated by testing for this highly contagious virus means that efficient waste management of high-risk healthcare isolation waste and disposal is critical. On a pro bono basis, waste management company Averda will manage the disposal of contaminated waste from these mobile Covid-19 testing stations which have been established by the Gift of the Givers in key locations across the country.

For appointments call 0800786911 toll-free between 7.45 am - 5 pm.

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