The 25-year-old, who wished to remain anonymous, flew to South Africa with five friends on March 14, a few days before the announcement of the confinement in France.
In Kruger National Park, popular for photo safaris, he was taken by headaches and a slight fever which led him to consult a doctor, fearing malaria, he said.
Dismissing the risk of malaria, the doctor gave him a test to detect Covid-19 but, according to the young man, did not ask him to stay in Kruger Park while waiting for the results. “We wanted to go to Swaziland, he advised us to go to Saint Lucia (note: on the east coast of South Africa) because the borders were closed,” he said.
“Under arrest for attempted murder”
A few days later, the friends were intercepted in Saint Lucia and sent to quarantine in various hospitals. All are positive for Covid-19, although only one showed mild symptoms.
The young man receives a call from the police to inform him that he is “under arrest for attempted murder following the spread of the Covid-19 in South Africa,” he said.
After 14 days of quarantine, the Frenchman can only recover his passport after having signed a document attesting to the honor that he will attend his trial, scheduled for June 26 in Mtubatuba (east). He was finally able to return home, in the Bas-Rhin, on April 18, a week after his friends.
“He interacted with an unknown number of people”
On March 25, South African Police Minister Bekhi Cele announced that two people with coronavirus had been charged with attempted murder for failing to meet their quarantine requirements. The first was a recent 50-year-old foreigner, positive for Covid-19, who had continued to work in his hair salon.
The police presented the second as a tourist, who tested positive while on vacation in Kruger Park. Police spokesman Vish Naidoo said he ignored orders to stay at his hotel and went to Saint Lucia where he interacted “with an unknown number of people”.
Since March 27, the 57 million South Africans have been subject to very strict confinement. Tuesday, the assessment amounted in the country to 3,465 cases of coronavirus, including 58 deaths.
(The essential / dpa)
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