The City of Tshwane says it hasn’t reached crisis level yet when it comes to the availability of hospital bed space in the metro. It is, however, appealing to residents to follow COVID-19 regulations as the number of coronavirus cases has increased significantly in the past week.
The City of Tshwane says it continues to witness an increase in the number of active cases with Soshanguve, Garankuwa, Mabopane and Akasia having been identified as the most-affected areas. This is followed by the CBD and Western parts of the capital.
“During the past week, until the 5th of January for which we have statistics, we have on average 1 286 new cases and over the same period we have the average of 29 deaths per day which is much much higher than a month before. In ward 1, which is the Soshanguve, Garankuwa area, ward 33 is a serious hotspot. That region is is the worst region in the city ,” says Health MMC, Sakkie du Plooy.
The surge in the number of COVID-19 cases has shaken the country, with some provinces experiencing bed shortages.
Du Plooy says while the city has not yet reached crisis level, they expect numbers to escalate in the next seven days, as many people will be returning from other provinces after the holidays.
“I believe there are enough beds, I believe what they have said. So at this point there’s no crisis and there was also another news release that there are sufficient beds and the private hospitals . Just make sure you don’t need a bed. Crisis might happen because we expect the spike to be next week, middle of January especially when more people come back from other provinces .”
The city says all 72 clinics are fully functional and are also providing screening and testing.
But patients at one clinic were not happy about the service they were getting when SABC News spoke to them on Thursday.
“Its pretty not comfortable. I also found people standing here, I also don’t know how long they have been waiting here. I am so unhappy because we were seating outside, I understand we can’t go inside. At least give us chairs and keep us updated. I’m having symptoms for the past few days now I’ve been transferred to here and yet I’m still sitting, thinking I might come back tomorrow because anytime they can cut the queue and say come back tomorrow.”
COVID-19 statistics in South Africa:
Loading…
