A German tourist, who travelled from KwaZulu-Natal to the Eastern Cape after he was tested for the novel coronavirus but before he received the news that he had tested positive, was on Sunday identified as the province’s second Covid-19 case. 

The Department of Health also announced that it will take strict action against the province’s other Covid-19 patient who released herself from quarantine a day after receiving her test results and was seen walking around in East London. 

The German tourist mentioned above and the rest of his tour group have now been placed in quarantine at a luxury lodge in Chintsa near East London after the man travelled to the Eastern Cape while the results of his Covid-19 test (done in KwaZulu-Natal) were still pending. He tested positive.

On Monday 23 March the Department of Health started screening the staff at the luxury Crawfords Beach Lodge in Chintsa. Some had been sent home to self-isolate with their families but those who were in close contact with the tourists remained at the lodge.

The MEC for Health, Sindiswa Gomba, confirmed that they have “demanded quarantine” of the group of 11 German tourists, and said all of them will be tested again.

She said the tour group started off in the Western Cape and then travelled to KwaZulu-Natal. 

“Here he was tested but he was allowed to move to the Eastern Cape despite this. The results came back while the group was in Chintsa,” she said. She said only one of the 11 had tested positive. 

The lodge’s management directed all queries to the Department of Health, but said in a Facebook post: 

“A guest travelling through here (20 and 21 March) has tested positive for Covid-19. He was in a group of 11 and was [the] only one to test positive but as [a] precaution we will be ceasing business operations until a full evaluation can be done. 

“We apologize if we may cause any frustration and inconvenience and are working closely with the minister of health and tourism at this time. We don’t know any more than that for now but will update everyone once we know more. We’ve told our staff to stay home so apologies if we can’t answer calls or messages in a timely fashion. We will update you soon.”

On Sunday the police cordoned off the lodge and workers were called back. “We are testing all of them, including the tourists,” Gomba said. “We have dispatched a team to take specimens,” she said. “They will be placed under quarantine for 14 days.”

Gomba said it was unclear why the man had been allowed to travel pending the receipt of his results.

“We have identified a disturbing trend of tourists being [transported by bus] into bed and breakfasts in the province. As such we have demanded that the 11 German tourists who travelled from KwaZulu-Natal and booked at Chintsa over the weekend, be placed under quarantine. This is the group that was tested in KwaZulu-Natal and one of them had his positive results confirmed while already in the province. 

“We have also demanded quarantine of other tourists found at a Nahoon B&B in East London. We did the same with nine tourists found at Savoy Hotel in Mthatha,” she said.

The German embassy put out a statement in response to questions, saying that all German tourists are called upon to organise their return home as soon as possible. It said it was in touch with the tour group who are currently at Crawfords Beach Lodge.

“The German Embassy has set up a dedicated hotline for German travellers. The number is 012 428 9876. They can also send their enquiries to [email protected]. We are also asking all German tourists to stay updated by following the German Embassy on Facebook and Twitter, as well as to visit our website www.southafrica.diplo.de, which is continuously updated with new information,” the statement read.

According to the embassy, all German passengers who were aboard the AIDA cruise ship in Cape Town have now travelled home to Germany.

“We commend President Ramaphosa for the steps his government has already taken. We call on all Germans and South Africans to follow the new regulations. Everyone has a personal responsibility to do their bit to prevent the virus from spreading. That concerns hygienic measures. And it also means that we must limit our social interactions as much as we can. We can only battle the spread of the virus if every single person does their bit,” the embassy said.

The embassy also announced that Germany will provide an additional R36-million to South Africa to help fight the spread of the virus. 

“The funds are intended for South African authorities to acquire test kits and hospital equipment to fight Covid-19.” 

The MEC for Finance and Tourism in the Eastern Cape, Mlungisi Mvoko, said it was crucial that the Eastern Cape tourism sector align itself with government’s plans to stop the spread of the virus and be extremely vigilant when dealing with visitors from high-risk countries. 

“Visitors from… high-risk countries should no longer be accepted by the EC tourism sector as per South Africa’s travel ban announced by President Ramaphosa which became effective on the 18th of March 2020.”

He added that tourism facilities should not take any new bookings and where there are existing bookings should postpone these to next year. He said if none of this is possible, foreign visitors should be tested.

“Establishments are further encouraged to request from visitors from high-risk countries additional information beforehand. This should include personal details of visitor, entry date in South Africa and information about recent places visited by guests,” he said.

Gomba added that they were having trouble with the province’s patient zero, who refused to stay in quarantine at her home. The 28-year-old employee of Mercedes-Benz, who tested positive after returning from a business trip to Germany, was caught walking around on Sunday. 

“She released herself from quarantine,” Gomba said.

She said they have asked law enforcement agencies to deal with the infected person. 

“We have noted reports of [the lack of] cooperation by the first confirmed case in our province, where it is alleged that she released herself from self-quarantine and allegedly lamented about her rights. This places people at unnecessary risk and as such, we want to call on law enforcement agencies to deal decisively with anyone found to be in contravention of the National State of Disaster regulations that have been gazetted.  Our view on this is very clear: her rights as a citizen cannot override the rights of all citizens and laws of the land.” 

Dr Nozipho Jaxa, a senior manager for clinical training in the Eastern Cape, said they were working out what to do with the patient. 

“In the interest of everybody’s safety we are looking at placing her into quarantine. She received her results on Saturday and by Sunday she was moving about.”

Gomba added that the virus “needed all hands on deck”. 

“We need business, NPOs and NGOs and we really need donations of hand sanitiser,” she said. “We will eventually overcome, it is just a matter of when.”

She added that the department will start a mass roll-out of flu vaccines firstly as a priority to the elderly, HIV-positive people and pregnant women. “We don’t want anybody to fall sick during this pandemic,” she said.

She also announced an agreement between the South African Council of Churches and the department to resurrect the “historic partnership” they had during the HIV pandemic.

Other measures announced by the Eastern Cape Department of Health include the appointment of unemployed nurses on 12-month contracts, the deployment of health officials to assist with screening motorists and passengers, and the appointment of a medical team, including paramedics and pharmacists, to help people on a dedicated phone line. The Covid-19 phone line number is 08000 32364. DM