COVID HOTLINE 0800029999
If you feel you have been exposed to COVID-19, or are showing slight symptoms, please avoid contact with other people in your community and self-isolate.
If you feel you are ill and need non-urgent medical care, call your doctor to ask how to be tested. They will need to follow certain steps to get you the specific care you need.
If you are feeling very ill and need care immediately, call your emergency services or go to the emergency department.
When seeking care, follow these steps:
Call your healthcare facility and tell them that you have, or are being evaluated for, COVID-19.
Put on a face mask before you enter the healthcare facility.
Ask your healthcare professional to inform the NICD.
Or phone the COVID19 Hotline below.
Steps Continued …..
Should an employee contract Covid-19, the employer should apply its sick leave policy to such an employee. ( only a recommendation and each employer will have to assess their current situation)
An employee must obtain a medical certificate and any time out of the office will be considered as sick leave.
Due to the nature of the illness, an employee with Covid-19 should not be permitted to return to work until that
employee is cleared to do so by a medical practitioner.
After the quarantine period and even if an employee does not display any symptoms, the employer may nevertheless require the employee to be tested by a medical practitioner and to provide the employer with a medical certificate
confirming that the employee can return to work
In South Africa, the Employment Equity Act prohibits medical testing as a rule but creates certain exceptions where testing is permissible. Medical testing in light of medical facts, such as an outbreak of the coronavirus, would be one of these cases. This means employers could justifiably implement the medical testing of employees during an epidemic.
“By implementing non-evasive medical testing, an employer may reduce the risk to the individual employee and all
other employees in the workplace
NB: Each employer will need to conduct a risk assessment and assess its situation and apply the necessary measures to meets its obligations.