Cape Town - Gift of the Givers had its busiest day at its Bellville Covid-19 testing station when a group of police officers were tested.

The organisation’s medical head for the Western Cape, Dr Naeem Kathrada, said a call was received yesterday morning to inform them that one of the members had tested positive, and all those who had contact with the officer needed to be tested immediately.

“We took about three hours from the time they called to the time we saw them. We ended up seeing about 15 of their members,” Kathrada said.

“It was our busiest day, but it ran very smoothly. In about 45 minutes we managed to see all of them. It would have been quicker, but they didn’t have any of their forms filled out. I got in some extra volunteers, and we didn’t have any issue at all. It went very smoothly. If we look at our other stations nationally, this seems to be the trend - around 30 to 40 people a day could be tested. Once it starts picking up, this could happen here.”

SAPS detectives from Bellville being tested for Covid-19 by Dr Abdul Rawoot of Gift of the Givers. One of the members in the unit tested positive for the virus. Picture: Brendan Magaar/African News Agency (ANA)

Project manager Ali Sablay said: “A member in the SAPS who works in the Child Protection Unit, a detective, tested positive for Covid-19 and he was hospitalised. They only found out about it yesterday (Wednesday) morning. Within four hours of informing us, we had already tested 15 of the detectives who work in the same unit as the colleague who tested positive for Covid-19. They are detectives and their offices are in Voortrekker Road, so that is why they came for testing yesterday”

The drive-through testing station is at the Momentum Metropolitan Parc Du Cap Office Park in Bellville, and will be operating weekdays from 7.45am to 5pm, by appointment only. Contact the toll free number at 0800786911 to check whether you qualify for testing. A payment will be required for an appointment.