Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says he is worried about St Augustine’s Hospital in Durban after 66 people, including at least 48 staffers, tested positive for the coronavirus.
In the twitter post Mkhize says, “The provincial department is engaging with the hospital with the view to close parts of the hospital down…”
He says specialists have been assigned to the hospital and that the fumigation process at the hospital is likely to start soon.
We are concerned about developments at St Augustine’s Hospital. 66 tested positive over the past few days. About 48 of them are staff. The Provincial dept. is engaging the hospital, with a view to closing parts of the hospital down
— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) April 7, 2020
The number of COVID-19 infections nationwide has increased to 1 749, with 13 reported deaths.
The St Augustine’s Hospital has been identified as a hotspot for coronavirus infections in KwaZulu-Natal.
On Saturday, Mkhize urged all patients who had been at the hospital from 1 March 2020 to contact the provincial Health Department.
In the video below, Netcare’s Dr Richard Friedland talks about the situation at the hospital:
North West Health officials embark on mass screening campaign
Health workers in the North West have embarked on a mass screening campaign in Rustenburg, in Bojanala District, where five cases were reported.
The district has the highest confirmed COVID-19 infections in the province.
The campaign is part of a rollout of screening, testing, and contact tracing programme.
On Monday, the campaign was started at Motswedi village near Zeerust in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District, where more than 800 people were screened.
Three of them have been placed under self-quarantine after their screening results showed symptoms of coronavirus. They are expected to under-go further testing.
In Rustenburg, confirmed COVID-19 cases stand at five.
Below are the latest stats for COVID-19:
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