Local hospital accused of covering up coronavirus outbreak

A resident claims that a man died of the coronavirus in a hospital in Cape Town’s Bellville suburb. The accused medical centre, Louis Leipoldt Mediclinic, says this is not true.

In a tweet, Twitter user @MarkSmit222 alleged that his colleague’s friend, who is an employee of Chinese company ZTE, died at 1pm on Friday, February 7 at the hospital.

“My good friend’s colleague, Steve Gouws, working at international Chinese company, ZTE, Cape Town, South Africa died at 1pm today after being exposed to another colleague who returned from China last week. Hospital refused to say coronavirus. They claim it’s swine flu (sic)”.

This was my comment on another Tweet on Fridayhttps://t.co/ObRI8WQRS1

— ? ? ? ? (@MarkSmit222) February 10, 2020

According to Smit, the hospital’s claims that the man died of swine flu and not the coronavirus are false.

Many Twitter users were concerned, and Smit’s Tweet received a huge number of responses leading him to elaborate on his initial Tweet.

In his second tweet, Smit called out South Africa’s airports for not doing proper checks as travelers arrive from foreign countries, especially China.

“My tweet was not to create fear but create awareness. Proper screening precautions are not done at airports as is done in other countries. Also, people have the right to know where this person died. It was Mediclinic Louis Leipoldt in Bellville, Cape Town,” the tweet read.

Since then, the accused Mediclinic has refuted Smit’s claim, saying no cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Cape Town.

“We would like to provide the reassurance that, in strict accordance with the protocols, Mediclinic Southern Africa has implemented the necessary measures to manage any patients presenting with symptoms and to prevent the potential transmission of the virus in our facilities,” the hospital group said.

These 2 tweets were deleted when I asked asked for evidence: pic.twitter.com/rVdrITIhF3

— ? ? ? ? (@MarkSmit222) February 10, 2020

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), 61 patients have been tested in South Africa but all tested negative for the virus.

While the local hospital says the accusation is unfounded, some Twitter users, along with Smit, believe they may be covering the incident up to prevent widespread panic and keep the public in the dark.

Picture: Unsplash