Dis-Chem pharmacy in the Ballito Junction shut its doors temporarily today after a staff member tested positive for Covid-19.

According to Dis-Chem’s general manager Dave Faber the close contacts of the staff member were immediately traced and sent home to self-quarantine for the required period.

“Our store, along with all Dis-Chem stores nationwide, has thoroughly followed all required measures to limit the risk of Covid-19 transmission during the lockdown period.

“We have ensured that the risk of infection has limited transmission to anyone else, thanks to the rigorous preventative health and safety protocols we have implemented.

“These include daily temperature checks, social distancing, the use of masks, deep cleaning of the entire store with special attention to high-touch areas, sanitiser and protective perspex sheets at tills.

“The health and safety of our customers and staff are our top priority,” Faber said.

Since the store’s closure a specialist cleaning team has been brought to thoroughly deep clean and sanitised the store.

Also read: Factory workers test positive for Covid-19 in Shaka’s Head

“We are liaising closely with health authorities and will reopen the store soon.

“We have worked closely with the health department throughout the lockdown period who have reviewed our protocols and confirmed that we are taking appropriate and swift action to contain the spread of the virus.”

“We take our role as essential service providers seriously and will continue to do our utmost to keep our staff and customers safe,” said Faber.

Ilembe district is considered a high-risk area and has been classified as a hotspot.

A district is considered a hotspot if there are more than five active cases per 100 000 members of the population.

According to KZN’s Health Department, while iLembe district has fewer numbers of Covid-19 cases when calculating according to numbers per population they are higher than eThekwini.

Ilembe district stands at 53.5 per 100 000 compared to the 30.0 per 100 000 in eThekwini.

The total number of cases in the province is 1 777 with 49 deaths and 1 168 recoveries.

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