SAFE DISTANCE: With funerals under the spotlight for high risk, a funeral organised by Chief Mangaliso Bokleni in Libode displayed exemplary social distancing.
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Forty people in a tiny Port St Johns village have tested positive for Covid-19, but villagers — including some of those who are infected — do not seem to care. The chaotic situation in Machibini village, where there is virtually no policing or army boots on the ground, is threatening to realise the health authorities’ worst nightmare about a virus explosion in the province’s rural areas.

The 40 infected people are linked to the infamous Majola village funeral of March 21, either directly or indirectly, throughcarriers transmitting the virus to others. The outbreak forced the closure of Majola Tea Estate, one of the biggest employers in the area, on Thursday afternoon.

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A total of 778 people have been screened and 560 tested in the area, of whom 40 were confirmed to be positive for the virus.

Health department spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo confirmed the source of the crisis was the Majola village funeral in March. “We want to urgently flatten the curve of the virus in Port St Johns,” Kupelo said.

Yet despite the situation, some villagers continue to walk around as if the pandemic does not exist and some of those infected are refusing to self-isolate, or go into quarantine or hospital.

This was confirmed by local traditional leader Nolundi Meji. “We are now sitting with 40 positive cases of this virus and the number will increase. Even those who have been found to be positive are roaming the streets and making contact with other people,” she said.

To make matters worse, she said, there was no law enforcement on the ground. She said she had done all she could to educate people about the dangers posed by the virus.She said law enforcement agencies should act immediately. “They must not wait for a death before they know the gravity of the situation we are in,” Meji said.

Questions were sent to national police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo to check if there been an increase in police visibility in rural areas or villages, and if additional police officers and resources had been allocated to rural police stations. No response had been received from Naidoo at the time of writing.

This is the same area where six members of one family tested positive for Covid-19 after attending the Majola funeral, which was also attended by people who had travelled abroad. Another family is now also badly affected, with four members testing positive,