56 People Travelling From WC To EC Test Positive For COVID-19

JOHANNESBURG – It’s emerged that 56 people travelling from the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape have tested positive for COVID-19.

South Africans have momentarily been allowed inter-provincial travel as part of level four lockdown regulations.

With the seven-day grace period due to come to an end at the stroke of midnight on Thursday, the Eastern Cape Health Department said over 2,000 people entering the province from the Western Cape had now been tested.

Over 3,000 cases have been recorded in the Western Cape, a far cry from the 849 cases in the Eastern Cape.

Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba said the influx of people coming from the Western Cape, which is the epicentre of the country’s epidemic, could undermine the department’s efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

“As the Eastern Cape, we try our best to speak to the Western Cape Premier in terms of these numbers that are flooding in the Eastern Cape but that didn’t help hence we decided that as the Eastern Cape, let’s just stay safe by screening and testing them. We are not too sure how far it is going to get and we are worried because the results are trickling in.”

For official information about COVID-19 from the Department of Health, please click here.

EWN