CORONAVIRUS UPDATE - SO SORRY YOUR WISH DELIVERY WILL BE LATE... CORONAVIRUS HAMPERS PACKAGES TO AND FROM CHINA

If you have a postal item from online shopping store Wish or any other package coming from China, expect a delay.

That's the word from the South African Post Office who are advising customers who are expecting items in the post from China that these items are likely to be delayed, as airline connections between South Africa and China have been suspended to prevent the spread of the corona virus.

The SA Post Office advises customers who intend to post items to China to wait until transport connections to the Chinese capital are restored.

Communications Division, SA Post Office Johan Kruger said the Post Office apologised for the inconvenience.

The  coronavirus outbreak that has taken more than 360 lives and infected at least 17,238 people in China since late December — and could become a pandemic. So far, growth has been exponential in China, but elsewhere cases remain under 150, scattered across nearly two dozen countries.There have been no cases reported in South Africa.

According to GroundUp the National Institute for Communicable Diseases has put in place systems to rapidly identify cases of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in South Africa.

Together with the National Department of Health the NICD has developed and distributed clinical guidelines and case definitions for doctors and nurses in both the public and the private sectors to better detect, identify and respond to a possible case.

These include guidance on what samples to collect to confirm the diagnosis, as well as how to best manage the case clinically and to prevent spread to others while the diagnosis is being made.

GroundUp stated that South Africa has in place fever screening at ports of entry, and guidance documents including case definitions. Staff at ports have been given information on what to do should a suspected case be identified.

via - IOL