UThukela Municipal employees fears as worker tests positive
|Published
The case resulted in 14 essential services employees, who have been in contact with the Covid-19 positive man, being sent into quarantine. Picture: Pixabay The case resulted in 14 essential services employees, who have been in contact with the Covid-19 positive man, being sent into quarantine. Picture: Pixabay
Durban - UThukela District Municipal employees in Ladysmith are in panic mode after one employee tested positive for Covid-19.
The case resulted in 14 essential services employees, who have been in contact with the Covid-19 positive man, being sent into quarantine.
“It’s scary to think that we will be going back to a building without assurance that it’s been thoroughly sanitised. We have been in contact with him directly and indirectly so there should be enough time given to ensure that the building is safe.
“We were just told that we should be going back to work tomorrow (Monday). I’m not sure how many people were tested and sent into self-isolation but there’s quite a number of them,” said an employee, who asked not to be named.
Municipal spokesperson Jabulani Mkhonza said the employee who tested positive reported the incident to his immediate superviser on April 28.
“It’s true that he has been at work before he tested positive. The municipality requested the test results which confirmed the employee in question was coronavirus positive. There are 14 contacts who were investigated. All were screened and tested and are awaiting results. They are all in quarantine,” Mkhonza said.
He said UThukela’s main building was shut down from April 29 until yesterday for the decontamination process.
He said a telephonic investigation was conducted by the Municipal Health Services (MHS) unit for epidemiological surveillance.
“This (surveillance) involves tracing and tracking all possible contacts, the man’s travel history, date of onset of symptoms and so on. Our MHS unit together with the infection, prevention and control unit from the Health Department investigated all identified contacts and they were all screened and tested and instructed to self-isolate at home for 14 days regardless of the outcome of their results,” he said.
The municipality was arranging for the affected staff to be sent for counselling.
Mkhonza said all municipal staff were trained and sensitised on Covid-19 prior to the lockdown.
The Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union said only essential services workers had been on duty since the lockdown started. Shop steward Ntokozo Buthelezi was told the building had been fumigated but he was unsure which areas were sanitised.