The South African Department of Defence (DoD) on Wednesday confirmed four positive cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) within the military community, however, none of the cases involved members deployed for the nationwide lockdown.
The Department of Health has confirmed that the country had 2 415 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 87 022 tests conducted.
The Surgeon General of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) General Zola Dabula said three of these cases were from the Western Cape and one case from Gauteng.
“The military community is part of the broader South African population, thus the SANDF is not immune from the spread of the coronavirus. It is imperative to note that the military community is bigger than the SANDF. The military community is inclusive of dependants of the serving, retired soldiers and others eligible for care by the SAMHS,” Dabula said.
All Covid-19 cases were treated and managed as per Covid-19 prescribed protocol, he added.
“Frontline workers – emergency medical teams, nurses, doctors, porters including soldiers patrolling the townships – have been issued with Personal Protective Equipment. Other preventative measures include thermal screening, hand sanitising and wearing of surgical masks by Department of Defence personnel,” explained Dabula.
He added that the South African Military Health Service (SAMHS) will be continuing with its Covid-19 awareness campaign of educating the department on the correct use of surgical masks, maintaining good basic hygiene principles and physical distancing.
The SANDF has also identified quarantine and isolation facilities for the military community in preparation for the envisaged overflow in military hospitals and sickbays.
Dabula said these facilities were DoD establishments with accommodation capacity in all provinces.