Environmental health practitioners and municipal health services from the Gert Sibande District Municipality (GSDM) are working together with the Department of Health in the District by conducting deep cleaning within several municipalities.

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These activities, which are conducted on a daily basis within all local municipalities in the Gert Sibande District are aimed at fighting the spread of Covid-19.

According to Ms Bongi Ka Dube, spokesman for the GSDM, a total of 35 environmental health practitioners from the GSDM have been deployed and reports from the Department of Health indicate that 122 officials are conducting screening within the Gert Sibande District.

Their duties

Their duties consist of all environmental and municipal health services and include but is not limited to:

• Tracing contacts
• Deep cleansing and disinfection of public facilities and facilities where positive cases have been identified.
• Screening and testing
• Awareness programmes
• Distribution of protective clothing and sanitisers.

She said, when fumigating and disinfecting facilities, they use 80% alcohol-based sanitisers administered through high-pressure sprayers as recommended by the World Health Organisation and the Department of Health.

Prioritised areas and facilities

Public facilities and areas where positive cases are identified are prioritised but other areas such as community health care centres/hospitals, correctional services/ prisons, police stations, juvenile centres, homeless centres, old age centres within all municipalities in the District are also not overlooked.

Ms Ka Dube said that all occupational Health and Safety protocols are observed to safeguard all personnel.

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