Pretoria - The City of Tshwane will be embarking on a 20-day testing and screening campaign in a bid to curb Covid-19 infections.
As part of the ward-based outreach campaign, the screening and testing at Bloed Street Mall will be done every day from 9am to 3pm for 20 days.
The City will also be extending the campaign to Gomora informal settlement near Hercules from tomorrow as well as WF Nkomo Village Mall near Saulsville from Thursday.
The last venue for the City’s awareness and testing efforts will be along Helen Joseph Street from Monday.
Tshwane head administrator Mpho Nawa said the Covid-19 operational plan was aimed at raising awareness about the pandemic, as well as to test and screen as many people as possible across all the seven affected regions of Tshwane.
He said that so far the City had conducted screening and testing in most of the identified hot spots in all its seven regions and would continue to revisit some of the areas as and when the need arises.
Tshwane has continued to lead in mass screening and testing efforts since it began its aggressive campaign, which has seen at least 2.4million people undergo the process as of June 12, according to Nawa.
The latest statistics released by the Gauteng Department of Health indicate that the City has the second highest number of active cases in the province, surpassed only by the City of Joburg.
As of Sunday, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the province stood at 192767, with 143068 recoveries.
There have been 2579 deaths.
Out of a total of 93648 contacts traced, those being individuals who were in contact with people who tested positive; 73049 had completed the 10-day monitoring period.
The individuals presented no symptoms and were therefore de-isolated, the department said.
The current number of people in both public and private hospitals stands at 4431.
After having recorded 445 new infections at last count, the number of cases in Tshwane now stands at 40258 with 25800 recoveries, leaving the number of active cases in the City standing at 14458.
Joburg has 15725 active cases, Ekurhuleni 5256 cases, Sedibeng has 5630 and the West Rand 2 510.
In Tshwane, areas such as Mamelodi, Eersterust, Silver Lakes and Garsfontein are the most affected with 3497 active cases. The region is followed closely by the northern parts of the capital with 2891 cases.
Pretoria West, parts of Atteridgeville, the CBD, Laudium and Hercules have 2863 cases, while the Olievenhoutbosch, Centurion, Brooklyn and Lyttelton precinct recorded more than 2500 active cases.
Communities further north such as Hammanskraal, Suurman and Stinkwater remained just below the 2000 mark, with 1479 cases.
The region with the lowest active cases in Tshwane includes areas such as East Lynne, Silverton, Cullinan, Ekangala, Bronkhorstspruit and Dewagensdrift.
*For the latest on the Covid-19 outbreak, visit IOL's #Coronavirus trend page.
** If you think you have been exposed to the Covid-19 virus, please call the 24-hour hotline on 0800 029 999 or visit sacoronavirus.co.za
Pretoria News