Life cover has been offered to the staff employed at the Ranch Resort in Polokwane which will host the South Africans who are being repatriated from China, the government said on Friday.

“To allay the fears of workers at the resort, insurance company Momentum has partnered the government to offer a limited life cover to the workers. Staff will also receive medical screening ahead of the arrival of the South Africans,” said a government statement. 

Concern was raised, particularly from the ANC Youth League, about the safety of the staff and locals living close to the resort were the 122 repatriated citizens will remain in quarantine.

The health ministry has repeatedly emphasised that none of those who are being repatriated have tested positive for the virus and that the quarantine is precautionary.

A medic who is on the military-led repatriation mission stressed that those being flown back home will be screened before leaving China by Chinese authorities. They would again be screened by South African authorities before boarding the SAA plane that brought them home, and they were due to screened again before disembarking.

Regarding the location, health minister Zweli Mkhize was confident that the resort was ideal because of its  location and layout. 

The 122 South African, together with the plane crew and medics who are part of the operation, will be kept in quarantine at the resort for 14-21 days and will again be tested.

Only once it was confirmed that they were coronavirus-free would they be released.

If anyone from the group tests positive for the virus during the quarantine period, they would be removed from the resort and taken for treatment.

As of Friday morning, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Africa was 16.