Cape Town - In a bid to quash fake news about the safety of Covid-19 screening and testing doing the rounds in the province Premier Alan Winde used his Wednesday morning to submit himself for a coronavirus test and posted the video on social media.
Winde said: “That fake news has caused people to be a little uncomfortable, it is really necessary that we do (conduct) screening and testing in order to beat this virus, keep the curve down and get ahead of the virus.”
Introducing Dr Justin Standaar from the Green Point Community Day Centre, who performed the test in Winde’s office, Winde said: “I am now going to subject myself to this process so that you can see what it is like. First, we’ll have the questions which are the screening part. We have more screening than tests because the screening gives them (the doctors) the data to say: 'Yes, we actually need to test you now'.”
Standaar said: “Today the premier has volunteered to show how we go through the process. First we ask questions: Have you got any coughing, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing at all, a fever or any history of fever or a sore throat? If any of those symptoms were positive, we would need to test potentially for Covid-19.”
“We also ask whether you have travelled internationally recently or have been in contact with anybody that’s been confirmed with Covid 19 or whether you’ve worked at or visited a healthcare facility where they are actually treating positive Covid-19 cases.”
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— Premier Alan Winde (@alanwinde)
Winde answered no to all the questions except the one about visiting a hospital and said: “If you remember I visited the Tygerberg Hospital on March 11. We went to look at their preparedness and that was the day our first case registered in the Western Cape.”
While Winde did not fit the criteria, he volunteered to test all the same just to show the public the steps and what happens.
The City of Cape Town's mayor Dan Plato has also encouraged residents to participate in the Covid-19 community screenings.
“As the roll-out of community screening and testing gathers pace, I would like to call on residents in the areas where the service is available to please participate.
“I participated in a screening process this morning and would like to encourage all residents who are offered the service to please take part.
“The community screening and testing initiative started country-wide on Monday, 6 April 2020 to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in vulnerable communities,” Plato said.
In Cape Town, this is a joint initiative between City Health and its Metro Health Services partners to ensure uniformity in their approach and maximum community reach.
Over the next two weeks, eight City Health facilities across the metropole will be supporting community based screening and testing. These include: St. Vincent Community Day Centre, Gugulethu clinic, Bloekombos clinic, Albow Gardens Community Day Centre, Alphen clinic, Westridge clinic, Town 2 clinic and Kuyasa clinic.
“I would like to remind the public that, while the coronavirus poses a higher risk to persons with other underlying health conditions, the majority of cases present with mild to moderate symptoms that do not necessarily require hospitalisation,” Plato said.
City of Cape Town mayor Dan Plato was tested for the coronavirus (Covid-19) on Wednesday morning. Picture: Supplied
