Spike in Covid-19 cases this winter

MKHIZE: MORE BEDS NEEDED IN ANTICIPATION OF SURGE

Additional buildings to be turned into quarantine sites.

Intensified interventions will be carried out in Covid-19 hotspots in a bid to flatten the rising curve before it hits the peak, said Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize while overseeing the state of health facilities in the Western Cape over two days.

Over the last two weeks, the province saw a hike in the number of deaths related to Covid-19, rising to 525 out of 705 fatalities nationally. The Western Cape has 23 583 confirmed cases.

Mkhize said on Tuesday the health sector needed to ramp up its measures to dodge a further hike in fatalities.

The department faced a backlog of about 90 000 tests which had not been processed yet.

Mkhize said with the backlog in Covid-19 tests results and kits, doctors would need to treat contact persons as if they tested positive and recommend isolation.

“We are going all out to get testing kits. The issue of the backlog is temporary. We will be able to solve it. No patient’s life will be compromised by the backlog, it will be sorted.”

On average 19 000 to 20 000 people were getting tested a day. Mkhize said the department was working with the private sector to assist with results, but it depended on the capacity of the laboratories.

Mkhize was impressed with the Western Cape’s state of readiness as the country anticipated a hike in Covid-19 infections during winter.

“We are impressed with the speed of the health response in the province. The work that was done is in preparation for the huge surge expected. We want to make sure every person who tested positive can be in quarantine.”

Mkhize, however, said the department was also working on cementing loopholes within the health sector as more beds were needed.

“We need the province to get more reserve beds quicker as the number of cases increase. The surge is coming a bit quicker, and we don’t want to have more patients than beds.”

He said the private sector had offered beds for the public health system.

At the Cape Town International Convention Centre, 860 beds were ready, while the Khayelitsha sports centre had about 360 beds.

Mkhize said more buildings would be turned into quarantine sites as infections increase. – Caxton News Service