KAROO NEWS - Roadblocks to screen motorists for signs of Covid-19 are in place throughout the Eastern Cape to check drivers entering the province, as a joint operation between health professionals and the police.
The driver and any passengers have to answer a screening questionnaire on their current health and recent travel history and recent contacts, and their temperatures are taken using an infra-red thermometer that does not touch the skin.
One of these roadblocks is at the cross just outside Aberdeen, at the junction of the N9 and R61, testing those travelling from the Western Cape. Two nurses from the Masakhane Clinic were on duty on Tuesday afternoon, with two SAPS members.
The nurses will be relieved by a shift from the Aberdeen hospital this evening, and the SAPS members will also work in shifts, operating the checkpoint 24 hours a day.
“The road has been quiet so far, and we have been able to check every vehicle,” said one of the SAPS members on duty, who is from Graaff-Reinet. During the time that the Advertiser visited the site, those tested included a family returning to Grahamstown from Cape Town and a local farmer, Hantie Marx, who was happy to be tested.
A family returning to Grahamstown from Cape Town.
Carolina Rule, a Beaufort West resident, was on a mission of mercy, driving to Port Elizabeth to get a replacement car part for a family whose vehicle had broken down in Beaufort West. “I’ll be driving back again tomorrow with the part, so that the family can get home before the lockdown,” she said ruefully.
The team members were well organised, and those stopped were happy to cooperate. Some logistics do still need to be sorted out however, as so far there is no toilet facility available for the testers!
Carolina Rule, on her way on a mission of mercy.
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