Johannesburg - Police had to be called in to help manage the situation after German tourists allegedly refused to co-operate with authorities after one of them tested positve for the Covid-19 virus. Authorities wanted to place the group in quarantine.
The Gauteng Department of Health confirmed on Friday that the group had planned to leave the country on Thursday, but Port Health Services were alerted and responded to the situation leading to the group being grounded.
The one who tested postive is currently being treated in a Joburg hospital, while the people who were in his tour group are in quarantine.
"Forty-seven members of the group are currently under quarantine at a private facility in Gauteng. Due to the limited quarantine space, separate arrangements were made to have the other 15 members of the group accommodated at one of the Gauteng’s health facilities and are under quarantine.
"It is disappointing that the group was not cooperative with officials, to a point where police had to be called in by the department to help manage the situation. Necessary precautions were taken with regards to the transportation to prevent exposure.
"The department once more pleads with members of society including visitors to adhere to the lock down measures and protocols that the government has put in place. It is through working together that that we will be able to disrupt the chain of transmission of the Covid-19 virus."
Another tourist who allegedly absconded the coronavirus quarantine in KwaZulu Natal has been arrested and charged with attempted murder.
National SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Vish Naidoo, said the man had travelled from the Kruger National Park to St Lucia in KZN and was tracked down by a tracing team and health officials.
"He tested positive while on holiday at Kruger National Park and was instructed to remain at his lodge. Instead, the tourist ignored the instruction and left the park and proceeded to St Lucia in KwaZulu-Natal (near Mtubatuba), where he apparently interacted with an unknown number of people,” Naidoo said.
He said the Department of Health had traced the tourist to holiday accommodation in St Lucia and immediately quarantined him at a hospital.