Pretoria – The City of Tshwane on Thursday appealed to residents of South Africa’s capital city to be cautious as coronavirus infections continue to rise across the country.
More than 15 of Tshwane’s buildings have had to temporarily close due to staffers having tested positive for the virus. Most of those buildings have since reopened and the city said some of its infected staff has “remarkably” recovered.
A fortnight ago, Tshwane, under head administrator Mpho Nawa, embarked on an intensive Covid-19 outreach campaign, targeting areas considered to be hot spots and conducted mass screening and testing of the residents. The campaign started at the Bloed Street Mall two weeks ago and continued at the Sunnypark Centre, Sunnyside, last week.
“The people of Tshwane have been amazing since the start of the lockdown period and have cooperated with us in our collective effort to flatten the curve. There were, however, some pockets of unpleasant behaviour, but those were isolated incidents,” said Nawa.
“We wish to implore everyone staying, working and doing business in the city to continue to wear a face mask at all times, keep to the required physical distancing, wash hands with a sanitiser with the alcohol content of 60 percent and above and wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds."
Nawa said Tshwane has provided water to all parts of the city to ensure that all the residents are able to fight the virus by observing proper hygiene measures.
The Tshwane administrator said after President Cyril Ramaphosa identified the capital city as one of the Covid-19 hot-spot areas, the city immediately shone a spotlight on the areas that needed urgent and targeted intervention and have now successfully managed to slow down the spread of the virus.
On Wednesday, the Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) said a fourth officer had tested positive for the Covid-19 in Pretoria, said spokesperson Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba.
Mahamba said the female constable received her results on Tuesday after her colleague tested positive.
The affected TMPD officers were based at the Mercedes-Benz building in the Pretoria CBD, which houses the metro police’s various specialised units, including the speeding section and cable theft units. The building on Francis Baard Street also houses the TMPD call centre.
Mahamba said the Mercedes-Benz building will remain closed until Friday to allow for disinfection to take place.
“This has occurred after three members of the Tshwane Metro Police Department, two female officers and one senior male officer, tested positive for Covid-19.
"The 51-year-old senior superintendent and a 37-year-old female constable tested positive on 17 June 2020 at Number 1 Madiba Street (in the Pretoria CBD),” said Mahamba.
He said the building was closed for two days to allow for disinfection before staff returned to work.