4 LOOTING SUSPECTS IN PACKED CELLS COVID-19+

MANZINI – There is a COVID-19 scare at Matsapha Police Station as about four suspected looters have tested positive for the virus.

According to an impeccable source, the suspected looters were arrested in Matsapha last weekend and one of them fell sick while locked up at the jam-packed Matsapha Police Station cells. Thereafter, the source said the suspect was taken to hospital where he was tested for COVID-19 as the medical practitioners saw COVID-19 symptoms. He said the test results reflected that he had contracted the virus. After that, the source said contact tracing was conducted and more suspected looters who were locked up at the Matsapha Police Station were tested for COVID-19 and three more tested positive.

Transported

Later on the day (Sunday), the source said the police from Matsapha Police Station transported the suspects who had tested positive for COVID-19 to Manzini Remand Centre (Zakhele), but they were turned back. As a result, the source said the suspected looters were locked up in the jam-packed police cells. He said this raised concerns with the other suspects and the police themselves as they were at risk of contracting the virus. “After testing positive for COVID-19, they spent two days (Sunday and yesterday) in the packed police cells and they might see the prosecution today,” the source said. The source added that the fears were that this might result in a superspreader as the police cells were full. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said procedurally, His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) facilities did not accept a patient without a doctor’s report. She said it was on that regard that the suspects in question were turned back.

“They are still at Matsapha Police Station and they might go to court or see the prosecution tomorrow (today),” the police mouthpiece said. It is worth noting that according to reports from the Ministry of Health, the country has been hit by the third wave of COVID-19 as the number of new cases has been increasing drastically these days. By end of business on Sunday, the country had recorded a total of 19 918 cases of COVID-19 and this was after 48 people tested positive for the virus on the day (Sunday).
On that day, there were five deaths, which took the total number to 692.

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