Over 60 German tourists in quarantine in Gauteng after one tests positive for COVID-19

Photo: Pixabay

Over 60 German tourists in quarantine after one tests positive in Gauteng

The german tourist who tested positive for COVID-19 is currently at a facility in Gauteng, according to the health department.

Over 60 German tourists in quarantine in Gauteng after one tests positive for COVID-19

Photo: Pixabay

The Gauteng Department of Health confirmed on Friday 27 March, that a group of German tourists are currently under quarantine after one of them was confirmed positive for COVID-19. 

One member of the group who tested positive for COVID-19 is currently at a health facility in Gauteng. The group had planned on leaving the country on Thursday 26 March. 

“Port Health Services were alerted and responded to the situation leading to the group being grounded,” said Gauteng health department spokesperson Kwara Kekana. 

More than 60 German tourists quarantined in Gauteng 

Kekana said 47 tourists in the group are currently at a health facility in Gauteng. 

“Due to the limited quarantine space, separate arrangements were made to have the other 15 members of the group accommodated at one of the Gauteng health facilities and are under quarantine,” she said. 

“It is disappointing that the group was not cooperative with officials, to a point where police had to be called in by the department to help manage the situation,” she added. 

The department is pleading with members of society, including tourists, to adhere to the lockdown measures and protocols that the government has put in place. 

The department of health is assuring South African citizens that necessary precautions were taken with regards to the transportation of the tourists to prevent exposure.

Lockdown incidents on day one

According to the Department of Transport, the following incidents have taken place on day one of the lockdown:

  • Besides an infected tourist, there was a collision on the R56 outside Richmond, approximately 50km from Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu Natal. The crash between a minibus taxi and a truck occurred in the early hours of the morning, at around 02:00 on Friday 27 March. Six people (including the taxi driver) have died and nine others have been injured in the head-on collision; 
  • There are seafarers on a cruise ship QE2 at anchor in Durban. Currently, there are no crew changes allowed in any of our ports. The QE2 is waiting for clearance outside Durban in order to come in;
  • A male cyclist was arrested for contravening the Disaster Management Regulation in relation to COVID-19, by cycling on the M1 south freeway near Southgate. The Johannesburg resident told officials that he was attempting to cycle to Cape Town. He has been detained at Mondeor Police Station; 
  • A group of homeless people have congregated outside Park Station at the South entrance and they are awaiting transportation to places of safety; and
  • As of 08:00 the queue leading to the Beitbridge Border border was 6kms long. SANDF and all other law enforcement stakeholders were in the process of clearing the border of the congestion.