Limpopo has recorded its first recovery of a Covid-19 case. 

 Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba has welcomed the first case of a Covid-19 patient who has now fully recovered and has tested negative. 

"The 28-year-old doctor was the first confirmed case in the province after his return from Europe," Ramathuba said. 

 The MEC commended the doctor’s self-discipline because he immediately self-quarantined after his return from overseas and also self-isolated after testing positive.  "After his self-isolation period, he has tested negative and he is ready to be integrated back to society," she said. 

“This must also give hope to the community to say, if we do what is right, we can contain the spread of this disease." 

Ramathuba said the province was sitting at 13 laboratory confirmed Covid-19 cases, including the recovered case.  

Of these cases, Limpopo has only one case which is suspected to be a local transmission.  "Further investigations are still being done to ascertain this fact," she said. 

BREAKDOWN PER DISTRICT

WATERBURG

Waterberg District still has the most cases at six.  Three of these are a Western Cape family that travelled to Europe and upon return self-quarantined and isolated themselves on a farm in the Waterburg.  The other three are a Japanese national who had travelled home, an Australian national who had also travelled home and a Zimbabwean national who had just recently arrived in South Africa .

CAPRICORN

Capricorn has so far recorded four cases including the person who recovered.  The other three are a 44-year-old female who travelled to London.  Upon return, she did not self-quarantine although she was coming from a high-risk area.  However, upon confirming her test as positive, all her contacts were traced, screened and tested and none has tested positive.  The other cases are of another 44-year-old who has just recently returned from a cruise ship to Portuguese Island and a 54-year-old male who travelled to Nigeria.

VHEMBE

Vhembe has recorded two cases. A 54-year-old female who travelled to the United States and a 45-year-old female with no travel history (suspected local transmission)     

MOPANI

Mopani has recorded a single case.  This is the case of a 30-year-old who was tested in Gauteng and didn’t self-quarantine but instead came back to Limpopo.  He has since been arrested and taken to an isolation site at the Modimolle MDR TB Hospital.  The tracer team are busy tracing his contact in order to ensure that they are screened and tested.

SEKHUKHUNE

Sekhukhune remains the only district in the province with no confirmed cases.

The MEC has called on the people of Limpopo to exercise maximum discipline during this period of lockdown.  The MEC says lockdown is the hope of the country to arrest the spread of the virus. “Our people must adhere to the rules of this lockdown because this is the only way we can be able to contain the spread of the virus.  We are already recording deaths in other provinces and that must knock sense into many of us to say if we are not vigilant enough by doing what is right, soon we will be seeing deaths onour doorstep,” she said.