[imagesource: Maryland Pride]

Cape Town Stadium has seen its fair share of impressive events since it was built ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

It was also the venue for the world record tennis match between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Trevor Noah and Bill Gates were also there, albeit less impressive on the courts.

Now, with the threat of a global a pandemic, the stadium is once again meeting the needs of the nation.

The stadium has been transformed into a testing centre where thousands of tourists will be screened for COVID-19 before flying home to their countries of origin.

Here’s The Citizen:

This initiative is being led by the Western Cape Provincial Disaster Management Centre in collaboration with multiple state agencies, including the national government, Port Health, City of Cape Town, Airports Company of South Africa, Wesgro and a host of foreign embassies and consulates.

The stadium’s CEO, Lesley de Reuck, says that they were quick to comply when they received a call from local government.

“This is a stressful time for the country, it’s a stressful time for individuals, and for the world. Can you imagine going through this kind of stress and you aren’t in your own country? So we wanted to play a very small role in a very big plan.”

The operation has reportedly been running smoothly since it began.

More from some of the key players, along with a tour of the testing centre:

If the tourists test negative for the virus, they will be flown back home. If they test positive, they will be quarantined.

Let’s hope this same enthusiasm is applied to supplying testing centres and mobile testing centres throughout South Africa.

[source:citizen]