Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize announced on Tuesday evening that mobile testing vans will be deployed in various townships to “flatten the curve” of coronavirus (Covid-19) infections in the country.

The mobile testing units could be rolled out as soon as Thursday, starting in the Free State.

He noted that as the winter months roll in and as the flu season begins, Covid-19 would remain a challenge and it “complicates the situation”.

“We will be escalating the number of screenings of patients; mobile testing vans will be deployed around arears that are mostly affected.  We will be seeing mobile teams located in various townships as we get more mobile vans into the areas that we are targeting; this is important for us to do  as we want to get ahead with regards to stopping internal spread within the country,” said Mkhize.

The coronavirus pandemic has already claimed 5 lives in South Africa.

Government has also doubled the number of fieldworkers screening South Africans to 10 000. They are working alongside nongovernment organisations.

He disclosed that despite the rapid spread of Covid-19, there were also a large number of recoveries from the virus, with 31 patients already recovered. He noted that most patients with the coronavirus are recovering and said exact recovery numbers will be announced soon.

Mkhize encouraged the continued reduction in traffic from trains and taxis as it allowed government to regulate the spread of the virus.

“The reduction of traffic on taxis and trains actually means the infections are averted, that for us is very important because it allows us the space to flatten the curve. We are picking up quite a number of people who are positive but because they are quarantined they are restricted in the areas where they are not causing any potential infection in the community. Those things are important as we are watching how the infection rate is increasing,” he said.

Meanwhile, he stated that masks will be made available to people using taxi transport to regulate the spread of the virus.

“We must try and assist with masks for people to use when they move in the taxis. We are engaging the manufactures to work with us and in that way we are prioritising protective gear and additional equipment as we are looking into where we need to respond to the increase of pressure for such mask supply,” Mkhize said.