KNYSNA NEWS - After Knysna received its first two Covid-19 cases last week and with a 21-day lockdown starting at midnight tonight, residents are wondering whether the Knysna/Bitou subdistrict is ready to cope with the pandemic.

In South Africa, at the time of going to print, there were 709 confirmed cases of which 174 were from the Western Cape. 

Of these 174, 12 are from the Garden Route according to Garden Route District Municipality spokesperson Herman Pieters, with the first cases in Knysna being Ward 10 councillor Peter Myers and his wife Candace as reported last week.

Western Cape department of health spokesperson Nadia Ferreira believes the region is prepared to tackle the pandemic. "The Western Cape and the Garden Route have been preparing for the first positive case of Covid-19 since before SA had any confirmed cases," she said.

Trained staff
"Staff have been trained and each subdistrict has their own outbreak-preparedness plan as with any other possible outbreak," she said, but pointed out, "Only patients who test positive and are severely ill require hospitalisation," Ferreira stated.

The health department has put in place a number of measures to help combat the spread of the disease in its hospitals and health facilities by adjusting visiting protocol, said Ferreira. There is now only one visitor allowed per patient in all wards, there will be no rotation of visitors, and no children under 12 years are allowed to visit. "Visitors can expect to be asked a number of questions (screened) before entry will be granted," Ferreira said.

Getting tested
If you think you might have Covid-19, you can call the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) hotline on 0800 029 999 or the provincial hotline on 021 928 4102. "If you match the case definition and want to go to your health facility, please call them first to alert them that you will be visiting," Ferreira advised. "Only people matching the case definition will be tested."

Case definition
You match the case definition for Covid-19 if you have a flu-like illness, have travelled to an area where Covid-19 is spreading from person-to-person in the community, or had close contact with a confirmed or suspected case of Covid-19.

Testing sites

Knysna:
Knysna Provincial Hospital (main entrance), Hornlee Clinic, Karatara Satellite, Heurhoek Clinic, Khayalethu Clinic, Knysna Town Clinic, Sedgefield Clinic, Knysna Community Day Centre.

Plettenberg Bay:
Crags Clinic, Kranshoek Clinic, Kwanokuthula Community Day Centre, New Horizon Clinic, Plettenberg Bay Clinic, Wittedrif Satellite.

At private healthcare facilities, doctors will ask patients a series of questions and based on the results thereof, the patients will be contacted by one of the laboratories – Pathcare and Ampath – to determine when an appointment can be made to conduct testing.

'We bring you the latest Knysna, Garden Route news'