Authorities mull legal action after Cape man lies about having coronavirus

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Cape Town - Health authorities are considering legal action against a Parow man who sparked panic by allegedly lying about having the Coronavirus. The 32-year-old apparently became impatient and used the virus as an excuse to jump the line at Tygerberg Hospital on Friday, demanding that he be tested after exhibiting signs associated with Covid-19. The Western Cape Department of Health says the patient was tested for the virus but the results came back negative. Department spokesperson, Mark van der Heever, says the man claimed to have travelled to China in the last three weeks, but this turned out to be a lie. “Upon subsequent investigation and assessment, it was found that the person did not have any travel history to an affected country and as such, the person was discharged because they are not a suspected case.

“As such the Western Cape still does not have any confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the province,” he said.

Asked whether legal action will be taken against the man, Van der Heever said on Sunday: “Our team is currently looking into it.”

Meanwhile, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Sunday the third person diagnosed with Covid-19 in South Africa is the wife of the first confirmed case, a man from KwaZulu-Natal.

On Saturday, Mkhize confirmed the second case as a woman from Gauteng, who was a direct contact of the KZN couple, as they were all part of a group of 10 people who had travelled from Italy.

“We confirm that we traced all 10 of these individuals. Nine of them had returned to South Africa. The tenth did not and is therefore not in our country,” he said.

“We expect the results of the other six group members who had travelled to Italy within the next 48 hours.”

The couple’s children were tested and their results came out negative.

He said he had spoken to the man who was “upbeat and jovial”.

“I also spoke to the doctor who is treating him. She confirmed that this patient is responding well and is now asymptomatic,” said Mkhize.

In other developments, around 151 South Africans being repatriated from Wuhan in China will immediately be placed in quarantine when they arrive home, Mkhize said.

“We wish to reiterate that none of the affected individuals has been diagnosed with the virus, nor have they exhibited any symptoms thereof.”

Globally, nearly 108 000 people have been diagnosed in over 60 countries.

With 3361 deaths reported, nearly 61 000 have recovered from the virus.

Daily Voice