South Africa: Cape police station closed after ‘COVID-19 related case’

Belhar Police Station in Cape Town has been temporarily closed, confirmed police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa on Saturday.

COVID-19 case at Belhar Police Station

Potelwa says the staff at the station has been relocated to a nearby community hall, where they will continue their duties while their usual workplace undergoes a decontamination process, following a “COVID-19 related case”

“Following a Covid-19-related case at the Belhar SAPS, operations at the station’s community service centre have relocated to a community hall in the same street. This movement is meant to allow the decontamination process of the facility to be undertaken in line with Covid-19 protocols,” Potelwa said.

Brigadier Novela Potelwa

According to Potelwa, a staff member had tested positive for the novel virus

“SAPS officials who have been in contact with the infected member are undergoing the necessary screening/testing and (are) in quarantine,” Potelwa said.

“As screening and testing are ongoing, we will refrain from giving figures.”

Novela Potelwa

Virus fears strike police stations

Earlier in the month, other police stations around the Cape were forced to shut down amid coronavirus fears.

The Belhar station was the fourth to be temporarily closed after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.

Police stations in Athlone and Hermanus had to cease operations after each reported a case of the virus and, more recently, the same happened in Belville.

All three have since been decontaminated and have reopened.

Elsewhere, Gauteng was the first province to report a case of COVID-19 at a police station.

The station in Douglasdale had to go under lockdown after an officer tested positive, while other staff members were screened and tested for the virus.

The temporary shut down lasted a couple of days, and the police station has since been reopened and is now fully operational.

Gauteng and the Western Cape are the two provinces with the most COVID-19 cases in South Africa, accounting for more than half of the reported infections.