Long delays for Covid-19 test results at Joburg hotspot

15 June 2020

The worst hit COVID-19 area in Gauteng is Ward 58 in Johannesburg, but test results for many of its residents are outstanding for more than 10 days.

This ward is near the inner city and includes Mayfair, Fordsburg, Homestead Park and Vrededorp. Testing sites for this hotspot were put up on 4 and 5 June, but many people have not yet received their results, including DA Ward Councillor Alex Christians. According to Christians, health inspectors wishing to trace contacts are frustrated as they are told that testing specimens were not marked and they cannot pick up the people they are enquiring about.

Another example of slow results was experienced by DA Ekurhuleni Councillor Khetha Shandu who was tested at a mobile testing station in Tembisa on 22 May and only got his result three weeks later on 13 June.  He was fortunately negative but an undiagnosed infectious person can potentially infect many others.

The Gauteng strategy of mass COVID-19 community testing needs to change urgently in view of the continuing slow turn-around times and the current backlog of 23 000 tests in the province.

Medical experts have been calling for a better use of limited testing capacity in order to give priority to vulnerable health workers and hospital patients.

It is unfortunate that the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) has made false promises that it could test 36000 people a day, but the national backlog is now 63 000.

Mass community testing makes no sense when results can take as long as three weeks.

Gauteng province claims to have screened 7 458 034 people, which is about half the total population, and to have traced 100% of 17 713 COVID-19 contacts. These figures are frankly not credible.

The provincial government should not make false claims. We now see an enormous jump in cases that dictates a change in strategy to focus testing efforts on priority cases and areas with results within 24 hours.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, 15 June 2020