Test site for Pretoria
Screening in Bloed Street Mall to fight Covid-19
A screening and testing site will be opened in one of the busiest parts of the Pretoria inner city today in an effort to fight Covid-19 in one of the epicentres in the province.
The initiative, rolled up through a partnership between the City of Tshwane and the Gauteng health department, will be operational for 20 straight days at the busy Bloed Street Mall as part of the drive to target the identified coronavirus hotspots in the capital.
The site, situated along busy taxi and bus routes, will be operational daily from 9am to 3pm in the heart of the capital.
Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said the place was chosen due to it being frequented by a large number of people daily. “It’s targeting all people that work and converge at the CBD, which is the covid-19 epicentre. The CBD has the highest number of positive cases in the entire Tshwane,” Bokaba said.
According to statistics from Gauteng health department, the Pretoria inner city is part of the Tshwane sub-district with the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases with around 12,500.
The district was also in the top five in the province in terms of confirmed cases after the City of Johannesburg inner-city, Soweto and Alexandra/Sandton districts.
Bokaba said the site would be staffed by health practitioners to be deployed by the the department to do tests and screening with those “that exhibit one or more covid-19 symptoms” to be prioritised for tests. “It would not be for the first time that we’re taking this campaign to the Bloed Street Mall, it was actually the site for the ward-based campaign launch about two months ago,” Bokaba said.
He said it was part of the city’s covid-19 operational plan which is among others aimed at raising awareness about the pandemic, test and screen as many people as possible across the seven regions of Tshwane. “So far, the city has conducted screening and testing in most of the identified hotspots in all the seven regions and will continue to revisit some of the areas as and when the need arises,” he said.