Contact tracing for Gauteng learners who attended Ballito Rage underway

The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) is working around the clock to track all learners from the province who recently attended the Ballito Rage event.

“GDoH can confirm that over 1 300 students coming from Gauteng province took part in the much-publicised super-spreader Rage event which resulted in a number of participants testing positive for COVID-19,” it said on Tuesday.

The provincial department is calling on event attendees to quarantine themselves and get tested urgently.

“Those that test positive will need to isolate for a mandatory 10 days,” the department advised, adding that family contacts of those who test positive should also isolate for the same period.

On Monday, the National Department of Health issued an urgent announcement to all parents and learners who attended Ballito Rage over the weekend to get tested after it was identified as a super-spreader event.

This as scores of attendees including Ballito Rage staff contracted the virus.

MEC for Health, Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi, has since called on the residents of Gauteng to remain vigilant as the fight against COVID-19 is far from over.

The MEC said large gatherings such as weddings, year-end functions, funerals, religious activities and places such as shopping malls, restaurants, and other establishments disregarding lockdown regulations continue to be super-spreaders.

“We continue to plead with the members of society that in the absence of the vaccine for COVID-19, wearing a mask and adhering to other non-pharmaceutical interventions remain the most effective tool to keep the virus at bay,” Mokgethi said.

The MEC is calling on society to play its part by protecting themselves and others by avoiding the “three Cs” – closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings.

The department is once again pleading with the citizens to maintain a safe physical distance, wear masks, wash hands with soap or use an alcohol-based sanitiser and avoid large gatherings.

KZN COVID-19 outbreak

Meanwhile, the KwaZulu-Natal Health department has confirmed the province is experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19 in four neighbouring districts attributed to the Ballito Rage events.

According to the provincial health department, eThekwini Metro Municipality continues to record the highest number of new cases daily, contributing to more than half of the total laboratory-confirmed infections.

Also, the province is ranking the fourth-highest in terms of the number of confirmed cases countrywide with cases sitting at 131 725.

The province’s active cases jumped from 9 085 on Sunday to 9 194 on Monday.

The province also reported 13 COVID-19 related deaths in the last 24 hours.

“KwaZulu-Natal province also ranks the fourth highest countrywide in terms of fatalities, contributing 3 406 of the deaths.”

Meanwhile, the Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said the organisers of Rage in Plettenberg Bay have again confirmed that the event has been postponed. – SAnews.gov.za