Limpopo's 2.7 million Covid-19 'screenings' of little value: DA calls for complete and accurate data
29 April 2020
The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on the MEC for Health PhophiRamathuba to provide complete and accurate data pertaining to the province’s Covid-19 screening and testing on a regular basis. This is vital to provide an accurate picture of the effect of the virus on the province and will play a crucial role in determining the level of lockdown that we will find ourselves in.
We are deeply concerned about the accuracy of the data that is currently provided.
The Limpopo Health Department has announced that the province has conducted more than 2.7 million screening tests, implying that Limpopo accounts for almost half of screening tests done countrywide.
However, the fact is that these "screenings" were wholly insufficient. They consisted of only two questions and no temperature measurements. Residents were asked if they had any flu symptoms and whether they had traveled outside the province for the last two weeks. That was the total scope of the "screenings" and means very little. It was an exercise in data capturing at best.