Eastern Cape Premier, Lubabalo Mabuyane, has conceded that the province is lagging behind in tracing people who may have come into contact with people who are covid19 positive.
He was addressing a media briefing in Bhisho on Monday on the ongoing efforts underway by his administration to contain the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
According to the Health Ministry’s report on Sunday, the Eastern Cape had 774 confirmed cases with 275 recoveries. It also recorded 17 deaths so far.
Mabuyane said their tracing teams were going all out to reach every person who may have been in contact with a covid19 positive patient.
"Yes, we are trailing behind in Buffalo City and Nelson Mandela Bay in terms of completing the list of contacts that we have," he said.
The Premier said the danger of not getting to those people in time is that they become a "hot-spot" and if positive, that person could also transmit the virus.
He said that was why the province was working around the clock to trace everyone on the lists.
Premier Mabuyane told the briefing that the province has embarked on a massive testing campaign to identify positive cases. He said there have been good “positive” outcomes in areas like Port St Johns, where people are recovering.
Identified hot-spots include Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City and Chris Hani District Municipality.
Meanwhile, Mabuyane also lamented the fact that large numbers of people continue to flock into the province, particularly from the Western Cape.
The government has given a 7-day grace period to people who were not able to return home or to work when the lockdown was announced.
This once again saw large convoys of vehicles, mostly minibus taxis, flooding into the Eastern Cape last Thursday.
Mabuyane said that as the number of covid19 patients grows in the Western Cape, the more this province is directly affected.
"The more it gets into the townships in the Western Cape, the more those people are re-routed back to our province,” he said.
The Premier said he had a discussion with the Minister of Transport on the need for a national protocol on how to handle this issue.
