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<\/a><\/p>\nTests doubled<\/strong><\/p>\n With the world\u2019s highest number of HIV infections – almost 8 million people out of a population of 59 million – the country is banking on decades of experience in fighting communicable diseases.<\/p>\n The government has deployed 67 mobile screening and testing vans along with 10,000 field workers in a bid to boost testing tenfold to 30,000 a day by the end of April.<\/p>\n Half of the staff have been seconded from the US President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which has operated in South Africa for 17 years.<\/p>\n In Gauteng, the province that includes Johannesburg and accounts for about 40% of all known infections, about 27,000 people had been screened by 9 April, according to provincial health authorities.<\/p>\n Nationwide, the number of tests per day doubled between April 5 and April 8 to around 6,000, health department figures show.<\/p>\n \u201cInternal transmission has started and it may spread silently,\u201d Zweli Mkhize, South Africa\u2019s health minister, told reporters last week. \u201cWe may have a runaway train with no way of applying the brakes.\u201d<\/p>\n Initially, people will be screened for signs of infection, with samples taken and transported to a network of laboratories.<\/p>\n Later, many of the vans will be kitted out with GeneXpert machines made by US-based Cepheid and test results will be given on-site within 45 minutes. South Korean equipment may be brought in at a later stage.<\/p>\n Entire households<\/strong><\/p>\n Still, as countries worldwide\u00a0scramble<\/span>\u00a0to procure medical and protective equipment, South Africa, which has just over 2,000 confirmed infections, isn\u2019t high on the priority list, said Glenda Gray, president of the South African Medical Research Council.<\/p>\n \u201cOne has to be cautious; even well-resourced countries struggle to contain this epidemic,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can run your race fast if you have the shoes and the right track. We have to note the things that hamper us — the lack of personal protective equipment and tests.\u201d<\/p>\n While South Africa\u2019s program is the biggest on the continent, other countries such as Ghana and Cameroon are undertaking similar programs.<\/p>\n In Ghana, medical staff go from residence to residence in \u2018hotspots,\u2019 or areas with known infections, to test entire households if one member shows symptoms.<\/p>\n The number of cases reached 378 on Thursday after the government tested 14,000 samples. It\u2019s waiting for the outcome of a further 10,000 tests over the next week after taking a total of 37,405 samples.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n