Repatriated citizens from China await COVID-19 results

The Health Minister, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, today has released a statement to declare that all the citizens that boarded the flight from Wuhan to South Africa have now been swabbed for the virus while staying at The Ranch.

Mkhize has found all those staying at The Ranch Hotel to be medically fit, apart from two who have shown to have a slight cough. For precautionary measures, they have been isolated away from the main population until the results come back. Keeping the two away from the main population of the hotel is to prevent possible spreading of the virus if they are in fact infected.

The minister has stressed that the repatriated citizens were screened before getting onto the flight, the screening involved checking temperatures and citizens answering questions relating to symptoms of the virus. Four citizens were unable to leave Wuhan due to displaying some symptoms of the virus, the reason for keeping them in Wuhan would be to prevent the virus attacking the “healthy” citizens on the plane.

The Health Minister acknowledges that leaving citizens behind is a tough decision and also hard on the families so the department has ensured their family will receive all the correct care at this distressing time.