122 South African Rescured From China Wuhan Province Land In South Africa
122 South African Repatriated From CHINA Wuhans Province landed in South Africa 3 days ago.
It has been confirmed that they will be kept in quarantine for the next three weeks at the Ranch Resort in Limpopo. Visuals from Polokwane on Saturday showed some of the repatriates being loaded onto busses at the airport.
Officials at the airport were seen wearing protective gear and ambulances circled the area.
On Friday, as final preparations were put in place, the resort was in total lockdown and heavily guarded.
The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic on Friday topped 5000 worldwide with Europe the new epicentre of the crisis.
In South Africa, there are officially 24 confirmed cases; 10 in Gauteng, 10 in KZN, 3 in the Western Cape and 1 in Mpumalanga.
Newly confirmed cases include four in Gauteng; a woman, 39, who travelled to Switzerland and Austria; a man, 50, who had travelled to Austria; a man, 57, who had travelled to Switzerland; and, a woman, 21, who had travelled to Italy. These countries are among the top 10 most-affected by the aggressive novel virus.
Paul Shearer, general manager of the well-known Ranch Hotel and Resort, 25km south of Polokwane, confirmed that was approached by the authorities to be the country’s first quarantine centre and will host the 122 South Africans returning on a chartered flight from China today.
“Some of our hotel staff have agreed to continue working during the quarantine period and we applaud their decision to stay and help.”
The decision to work was voluntary.
The resort was chosen because of its excellent facilities, and it is quite isolated. Previous talks with the Black Mountain Lodge in the Free State failed.
