Plett Police, Provincial health and Bitou’s C-9 response team tackle new virus case
On Monday morning, social media was abuzz with reports and images of the main police station in Plettenberg Bay being closed, with some reports claiming that this was also the case at the KwaNokuthula station.
One of the photos doing the rounds was accompanied by a caption referring to the station’s main entrance closed with “hazard tape”. Its author further alleged that someone suspected of being infected with Covid-19 entered the station on Sunday night.
“One police [sic) tested positive for Covid-19. All officers from this station on quarantine awaiting their results,” according to the message that was passed on to members of numerous private as well as CI9-specific WhatsApp groups.
Speculation around Bitou and beyond included claims that the infected SAPS member hailed from Knysna, while other sources said it was a Plett officer who contracted the virus while on duty at the Tsitsikamma Toll Gate – the latter an assertion confirmed on local electronic media platforms.
Setting the record straight on Monday afternoon was the leader of the Bitou Covid-19 response team. Dr Nicola Whiteman. who said that Western Cape Health department representatives had attended a meeting at Plett police station to ascertain the best way forward.
“The police station was decontaminated and has since reopened. The positive case is being isolated and all contact tracing has been done,” explained Dr Whiteman. adding that all community safety and traffic officials were due to be screened during the course of Tuesday morning.
Said SAPS Southern Cape spokesman captain Malcolm Pbjie: “The police station at Plettenberg Bay was never closed, and services were conducted as per usual. “However, the Community Service Centre (also known as the charge office) was temporally moved to the support offices at the back of the police station, while the Service Centre was decontaminated as a precautionary and proactive measure to prevent the possible spreading of the Covid-19 virus.
“A notice was clearly displayed at the entrance of the Community Service Centre to sensitise visitors as such. This happened on Sunday, May 10 and normal services commenced on Monday morning as the Service Centre was reverted. “Services were not compromised nor impeded at all, and operations and assistance were conducted as normal,” captain Pojiesaid.
Western Cape and Garden Route Covid-19 figures explained When the daily data on confirmed Covid-19 cases within the province arrived on Monday afternoon May 11, there was no change to Bitou s count of five confirmed cases – as has been the state of affairs since the start of lockdown. When questioned in this regard on Tuesday morning in light of the news of a new infection, spokesman for the premier’s office Bianca Capazorio said they could not comment on individual cases.
“If there are any additional cases, they can take a few days to reflect on our dashboard. as the data needs to come through to us from the lab before being confirmed. addresses have to be allocated, and so on.”
Capazorio added that the provincial Covid-19 dashboard was updated around Ipm daily, and readers are invited to visit www.coro navirus.westerncape.gov.za/covid-19-dash board to check on the latest figures.
At 1 pm on May 11, the Western Cape had 3.911 active cases of Covid-19, with a total of 5.813 confirmed cases; 1,796 recoveries and 106 deaths.
Apart from the five cases indicated for Bitou, the rest of the Garden Route remained virtually unchanged for the time being: Knysna 15, George 15, Hessequa eight and Mossel Bay 19, with Oudtshoorn counting three confirmed cases.