Mpumalanga at risk of “imported cases”

The province is working hard to make sure this risk is lessened.

The Mpumalanga government has said that the province is bordered by Mozambique and eSwatini and was on hight alert for the possibility of “imported cases”.

They said so far they haven’t experienced any imported cases, with Mozambique sitting at 209 cases, 71 recoveries and 1 death while eSwatini has 256 cases and 158 recoveries as of 26 May 2020 this week.

Health department spokeswoman Sharon Nkosi said the only imported case they had was of a patient who was coming from overseas.

“We haven’t experienced imported cases so far but this province is a high risk, especially because of the illegal borders and the road network for cross-border goods transportation,” Nkosi said Tuesday night 26 May.

She said the department is therefore working with the police and the army to ensure the “emerging risk is prevented”.

The cops and soldiers are attending to illegal entries to the province while healthcare workers do screening and testing to avoid the virus being brought into South Africa.

“We continue to monitor the COVID-19 cases from the various districts right down to the local areas.  

“As the department continues with the screening and testing exercise, the strategy to trace and monitor all the contacts seems to be yielding positive results,” she said.

(edited by PM)

Send tip-offs to editor@013.co.za