Nearly 30 coronavirus cases at police station
Cape Town’s largest police station has been hit with 29 officers testing positive for Covid19, according to a reliable source.
The affected members have been quarantined.
The first officer to test positive for Covid-19 received his results on April 26.
He was informed he had tested positive for the virus two hours into his shift that day, the source said.
According to the source, the police officer was sent home and the station was immediately shut down, with the other members then sent for testing.
By the middle of last week, a further 14 members had tested positive, comprising almost the entire Sunday day shift of April 26.
A source said the officer who had first tested positive could have infected other members on board a police bus which transported them to the station and back home during the lockdown, or during the early morning parade that Sunday morning.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa could not provide the official figures for the positive cases.
“The SAPS was advised of Covid-19-related cases at Cape Town Central police station but we cannot provide figures as members get tested by external service providers,” Potelwa said.
“The building housing the police station is being decontaminated.
“Community service centre operations are at a mobile unit outside the station,” she said.
On April 26, the station commander, Brigadier Hansia Hansraj, informed community policing forums that the station’s operations would be amended while the main building was decontaminated.
In a WhatsApp message sent out to the CPF groups in the Cape Town Central precinct, Hansraj assured them that despite the “disastrous time” for the station and its staff, service delivery would continue.
“Let’s pray for our station during this disastrous time.
“Our members and families are facing trying times, but we will continue to execute our task at hand.
“You will be informed on any changes of the current status.
“Thanks for all the messages of support and prayer,” the message said.
According to a source, many of the members who had initially tested positive also lived in poorer communities such as Khayelitsha and were potentially more exposed to the virus.
The station was being run out of four kiosks while the main building was being decontaminated.
The source said all the members who had tested positive were self-isolated.
Cape Town Central is the largest police station in the Cape Town metro, with 510 members stationed there.