GEORGE NEWS - Two teams of six health workers each started Covid-19 community screening this week in Zone 9 in Thembalethu, George.

Results of people who are referred for further testing will be available between two to three days after the tests are done. 

More than 150 000 people have been screened in the Western Cape since the start of the programme on 6 April, with over 6 000 sent for testing. Figures for sub-districts (towns) are not made available by the department. 

Nationally over three million people have been screened since 6 April.

In the Garden Route, teams are also currently screening in Kranshoek in Bitou (Plettenberg Bay). 

"We continuously use data driven information to identify in which communities cases of local transmission are present and where we must screen and test people as soon as possible," Western Cape Health district spokesperson Nadia Ferreira told the George Herald.

She said in the Garden Route they are going door to door. "The teams working in George have been well received and we would like to thank the public for that."

All patients and visitors visiting facilities of the health department, such as the hospital, are also screened.

"We don't screen and test people only through community screening, but the public can also complete a form that helps them to assess themselves in terms of the coronavirus."

The form is available on the province's website. People can also phone the help line (Western Cape 021 928 4102 / national hotline 0800 029 999, or a health facility if they have any flu symptoms.

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