Times Of Swaziland: COVID-19+ DOCTOR MAY FACE ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGE COVID-19+ DOCTOR MAY FACE ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGE ================================================================================ Stanley Khumalo on 13/05/2020 08:58:00 MANZINI – A doctor, who did not self-quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19, may face a charge of murder or attempted murder. This is according to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Regulations, 2020 under Section 33 (3). It states that ‘Any person who intentionally exposes another person to COVID-19 may be prosecuted for an offence, including assault, attempted murder or murder’. Under Regulation 8 and 154, home quarantine or isolation measures stipulate that a home quarantined or isolated person shall stay in a well-ventilated single-room, preferably with an attached or separate toilet. If another family member needs to stay in the same room, it is advisable to maintain a distance of at least one metre between the two. Contact Also, this individual shall stay away from contact with elderly people, pregnant women, children and persons with co-morbidities within the household and restrict movement within the house. The regulations also state that under no circumstances should that individual attend any social or religious gathering, which include but not limited to weddings and vigils. However, the doctor is said to have, after being tested, visited another medical practitioner to assist him at the Pigg’s Peak Government Hospital. This was much against the fact that his sample had been taken and the results returned, which confirmed his positive status. The maternity wing and theatre which the doctor visited had to be fumigated and disinfected. According to impeccable sources, the doctor was to be admitted to Siteki Hotel, where other medical officials were admitted. However, he could not be booked into the hotel as it was full. Investigate To this, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Simon Zwane, said the ministry would investigate the matter. He said there was a need to upscale educational information circulated to the public. “There was a challenge in his moving and I really don’t know how it happened. What I know is that once my sample is taken, I have to immediately isolate until I know my results because I’m regarded as a suspect,” Dr Zwane said. He said at no point was one supposed to mingle with people after being tested as the results could go either way. He reiterated that the ministry had to emphasise behavioural change as the fight against the coronavirus depended on behaviour.