Breaking News: Mtunzini man tests negative for Ebola
Fears allayed as Zululander’s results confirmed.
WHILE KZN health authorities remain mum on the situation, the Zululand Observer can confirm that the Mtunzini man, who displayed symptoms of Ebola, has tested negative for the virus.
Reliable senior health sources told the Zululand Observer a short while ago, that the middle-aged man, was still being kept in the isolation unit at Durban’s Addington Hospital as a precautionary measure.
‘He arrived at the isolation unit at about 1pm on Thursday afternoon. The tests were done and there is nothing to worry about. He tested negative,’ said the source.
It is believed the Zululander will only be released within the next week after the incubation period is over.
Rumours that the patient was reportedly taken to Ngwelezana Hospital first before being transferred to Durban yesterday have also been dismissed.
The Zululand Observer was inundated with calls from anxious nursing staff, who were anticipating a suspected Ebola patient. However, the patient was transported via ambulance from Mtunzini to Addington Hospital yesterday before he was handed over to the isolation unit.
The Zululander, who had been working in Sierra Leone, was admitted after displaying symptoms of fever, diarrhoea and vomiting.
The man had returned from the West African country earlier this month and according to sources, tested negative for the Ebola virus on 15 October.
Addington Hospital is the only hospital in the province with the essential facilities to treat positive Ebola cases of up to eight patients.
Health authorities have not yet released a statement confirming today’s test result.
