Some scientists, such as Professor Francois Venter an infectious diseases and HIV expert and head of Ezintsha at the University of Witswatersrand, have for weeks argued publicly for the department to stop mass testing and for tests to be reserved for hospitalised patients and healthcare workers.

"Here, a single test on day eight after last exposure to [Covid-19] can be done for essential workers like healthcare staff; if negative, the individual has very likely not been infected and can return to work, instead of waiting a full two weeks [before returning to work]; the five or six days saved [by returning to work] are important for highly needed professions.

"There still isn't a clear system in place to prioritise the tests coming from key groups, such as hospitalised patients, and healthcare workers [who need urgent tests so that we know if they can return to the frontlines early].

Mkhize told News24 the Western Cape's backlog was being cleared, and the average turnaround time for tests there was 24 hours.

"It has several profoundly negative consequences in the healthcare system, including: having to open up new wards and beds within the hospital for patients who are awaiting their test results; having to use extra personal protective equipment and other consumables while awaiting test results; exposing staff unnecessarily to potentially infectious patients since more wards are necessary to keep patients who are awaiting results; potentially delaying important decisions about who should be ventilated or sent to ICU until results are available."