The Eastern Cape Health Department said it would be laying charges against an unemployed woman who allegedly lied to authorities about having the coronavirus.
Department spokesperson, Sizwe Kupelo, said the woman “presented herself as potentially being infected” and reported to Grey Hospital in King William’s Town on Friday.
He said she claimed to be an employee of a man who had recently returned from Italy with the deadly virus but then refused to give hospital staff her information or that of the “faceless man she had claimed was his employer”.
“But upon verification and speaking with her family, it was established the woman had fabricated the story as her relatives confirmed she is unemployed,” Kupelo said.
He said the family also said that she had no history of mental illness.
Meanwhile, the Department wants the police to “leave no stone unturned” in tracing the man who recorded and circulated a voice note about a coronavirus case at Port Elizabeth’s Livingstone Hospital.
“Such hoaxes cause unnecessary panic. The department would like to reiterate its readiness to treat anyone who might test positive for the coronavirus should we have a confirmed case in the Eastern Cape,” Kupelo said.
“We would like to assure South Africans that the department will be transparent should there be a confirmed case in the Eastern Cape,” he added.
