The municipal head office located under the Xhariep District Municipality is undergoing decontamination as well as deep cleaning, and is set to reopen this coming Tuesday to render services. At this stage, it is unknown how many employees tested Covid-19 positive, or how many have been placed under quarantine as a result of being contacts.

Presently,  the Free State has 12 606 active Covid-19  cases and 63 reported deaths. The recovery rate remains low, with only 1873 people no longer having the coronavirus.

Around May-end the Xhariep District under which Letsemeng falls, raised concerns with the Free State Health Department following a sudden uptick in cases. At the time the department flagged the town of Bethulie under Kopanong Local Municipality in particular as a hotspot. In mid-May Bloem Water was forced to shut down its Orange River Regional Office In Bethulie after one of the water board’s employees tested positive for the novel virus. 

Bloem Water spokesperson, Kido Thoabala, revealed at the time that they were going to disinfect the closed offices before reopening. Thoabala further revealed the treatment works were not exposed, and will therefore continue to operate.  “The entity acted swiftly in responding to the incident and all is under control. The entity continues to supply water in this and other regions," stressed Thoabala at the time. 

She further says the company's employees are urged to continue observing social distancing, wear face masks at all times and wash their hands with soap or use hand sanitisers regularly, as provided at all workplaces. The health department never confirmed how many of the Bloem Water employee’s contacts ended up with the virus.

The concerns appeared to have died down, with bigger districts like Mangaung, Lejweleputswa and Fezile Dabi reporting a larger number of cases and thus grabbing the attention of the department.

OFM News