King William's Town traffic officer and security guard fear they gave Covid-19 to hundreds

A King William’s Town  traffic official and a security guard working in the town’s Sassa offices, both of whom tested positive for Covid-19 this week,  are worried  they may have passed the virus on to “hundreds of others” during the course of their duties.

The traffic official and guard are close relatives of grandmother Ntomboxolo Mfana, who died of Covid-19 related complications last week.

The pair, who are quarantined at home, asked to remain anonymous to protect the identities of their children.

Sassa Eastern Cape spokesperson  Luzuko Qina said employees who had been in contact with the security guard were tested on Monday and had been isolated while awaiting results.

Qina said the King William’s Town office remained closed.

“However all offices are being fumigated and sanitised in preparation for opening on Monday ... in line with the directive of the minister of public service. This includes rearranging the office to comply with the set standards,” Qina said.

Speaking to DispatchLIVE on Wednesday, the traffic official said he did not know for certain where he might have contradicted the virus, but suspected he got it from a family member who had tested positive.

Ntomboxolo, 69, died of Covid-19-related complications at Grey Hospital in King William’s Town last week.

Her husband, Mzimkhulu, as well as the couple’s grandchildren aged five and 13, had all tested positive for the coronavirus about two weeks ago.

The security guard was adamant he had contracted the virus through the five-year-old.

“I am worried about the hundreds, if not thousands, of people I had contact with when I was searching them.

“They need to test to verify their results,” the security guard said.

He said he had been in contact with the late Ntomboxolo on the day she was transferred to hospital and that she had been sleeping on the same bed with the five-year-old.

He said people in his village knew about his status and understood it was not his fault he had tested positive.

“When people come to visit they shout from a distance and those who had come to visit had to stand far away from me,” he said, adding he was being truthful about his status for their safety.

The traffic officer said it would be difficult to trace people with whom he had made contact as he did not have their details.

“We interact with different people, many of them, and this will make it difficult to trace,” he said.