Athlone police station shut after cop tests positive for coronavirus

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Cape Town - The Athlone police station in Cape Town has been closed after a police officer tested positive for the coronavirus, the SAPS confirmed on Sunday. National police spokesman Brigadier Vish Naidoo confirmed that a warrant officer at Athlone Police Station had tested positive, the first confirmed case of a police officer in the Western Cape. "The station was immediately evacuated and all the shift members, appropriately 20 of them have are in self-isolation pending their test results. The station had since been decontaminated but it will remain closed until Monday, 13 April 2020," Naidoo said. He add that service delivery has not been compromised as the Community Service Centre would be operating from an adjacent building. Faiez Jacobs, ANC MP for Greater Athlone, said they had been informed of the confirmed case.

"We are sorry to hear this, especially because SAPS members perform essential services. We wish this officer a complete recovery. Our thoughts are with the officer, his family and friends. We are grateful for the services they and other essential services staff render to our community.

"We call on all our frontline to protect one another, enforce protocols. We also call on the public not to tempt this pandemic or to add to it being spread, but to stay indoors and to observe all safety precautions."

The Western Cape has 567 confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection, according to Premier Alan Winde.

"We currently have 29 people in hospital who have tested positive for COVID-19, with 12 being cared for in ICU," Winde said on Saturday.