The group is said to have been placed at the resort as a precautionary measure after they had crossed the border from Namibia.
SEVEN people – three couples and an individual – have been placed under quarantine at the Eiland Holiday Resort in Upington for 72 hours as they await their covid-19 results.
The group is said to have been placed at the resort as a precautionary measure after they had crossed the border from Namibia.
According to information, one person in the group is a hitch-hiker who crossed at the Nakop border post on Saturday. That person was initially placed in quarantine at Keimoes Hospital. The couples were initially placed in the isolation ward at Dr Harry Surtie Hospital in Upington but were moved to the Eiland Holiday Resort on Sunday morning.
It is believed that all those in quarantine are South African citizens who travelled to Namibia and tried to make it back into the country before the lockdown in Namibia. The hitch-hiker is said to be from Rustenburg and the couples are from Pretoria.
Medical experts who visited the resort, along with the mayor of the Dawid Kruiper Municipality, Michael Segede, said that the group was merely being kept at the resort due to their travel history.
They differentiated between quarantine and isolation, stating that quarantine is for healthy persons.
The medical experts said that after the test results are received, and if they are cleared, the group will then be issued with a travelling exemption and clearance letter to travel home.
The couples are said to be staying in chalets separated from each other and will be provided with meals by the department three times a day.
Segede said that the resort is equipped with the required services to ease the stay of the group.
“The resort has running water, sanitation and electricity. There are beds as well as a television inside each chalet. We were informed about persons crossing the border who will be hosted at the resort. We did have an arrangement with the Department of Health prior to the lockdown that the resort would be used as a quarantine facility and that is why we closed it – for this purpose,” said Segede.
He said that only medical staff would be allowed access into the facility.
“We have given strict instructions to the security staff that no one is to be allowed access to the premises and only medical staff will be allowed onto the premises. This is to protect the privacy of those who are hosted at the resort and also to ensure that we adhere to covid-19 protocols.”
Segede also addressed the concerns of municipal staff members who are employed at the resort.
“The people who would be hosted here are the ones who tested negative for covid-19. This is just a mere measure to ensure those in quarantine get their results. They will be able to go home after they are cleared. The facility is also sanitised and will again be sanitised before the lockdown is over and staff have to return to work. The health and safety of our staff is very important but we also have to assist where we can lend a hand in this fight against the virus.”
He added that although the resort is usually a relaxation destination this time of the year, the call to save lives outweighs the revenue they would make.
“Revenue loss is not important now. We have to adhere to the call of government. There is no price tag on human life. The revenue we lost, we will make up at a later stage,” Segede said.
