Coronavirus: DA calls for mandatory self- quarantine period for travelers coming from ‘high risk countries’
12 March 2020
Following the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic and the increase in the numbers of infected people in South Africa to 17 as of this morning, it is clear that the South African government needs to increase its measures to deal with this virus.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, to institute a mandatory self-quarantine period of 14 days for all travelers from high-risk European countries whether the person is symptomatic or not.
I will be formally writing to the Minister to table this recommendation for consideration.
It is of great concern that these new infections are now outside the initial group of 10 travelers who visited Italy. These new cases are now people who have recently traveled to certain European countries and landed back in South Africa in the last couple of days.