The Eastern Cape Department of Health says hijackings and robberies in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro continue to thwart the Department’s efforts in its fight to stem the resurgence of COVID-19.
A fourth vehicle that belongs to the Department’s Tracing and Testing Team was hijacked at gunpoint by robbers in Ward 19 in KwaZakhele last week.
Department spokesperson Siyanda Manana says staff, were also robbed of their valuables.
The vehicle was later recovered by members of the police, with all four wheels missing.
In a statement issued by the Department, Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba pleaded with communities to protect the Staff of the Eastern Cape
Department of Health instead of harming, robbing and hijacking them.
She warned that if the Department’s staff ended up withdrawing from certain areas, it would leave those communities very vulnerable to Covid-19 infection.
Covid-19 infections in Nelson Mandela Bay are currently spiking at between 200 and 300 new infections, every day.
