The Gauteng government says it will not build any more field hospitals as previously planned despite the expected second wave of new COVID-19 infection.
It says the provincial Command Council has decided not to expand the field hospitals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic since they believe the province has passed the anticipated peak of infections for now.
Head of the Gauteng Health Department, Professor Mkhululi Lukhele, says there’s no need to ramp up infrastructure but adds that the number of infections will guide them.
“Having been informed by the burden of disease, how it has behaved and also inputs from the clinicians on that grounds the decision has been made that we will not be expanding on any field hospitals, so therefore the Tshwane events centre will not take place. The Nasrec centre will remain as is because the scenario and the expectations are not yet defined given that we may have another surge.”
Gauteng confirmed COVID-19 cases district breakdown:
#COVID19 || GAUTENG CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES DISTRICT BREAKDOWN AS AT 20 AUGUST 2020. #GautengCOVID19 pic.twitter.com/EkZIQRylAz
— Gauteng Health (@GautengHealth) August 21, 2020
#COVID19 || GAUTENG CONFIRMED COVID-19 CASES DISTRICT BREAKDOWN
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Gauteng as at 20 August 2020 sits at 202 955 with 169 299 recoveries and 3144 deaths.#GautengCOVID19 pic.twitter.com/ELos2DhKXo
— Gauteng Health (@GautengHealth) August 21, 2020
Decrease in new coronavirus infections in Gauteng
Meanwhile, the Gauteng Health Department says the decrease in new coronavirus infections is an indication that the worst could be over.
It says it has not reduced the number of coronavirus tests despite the decline in new infections.
Gauteng has recorded 46 COVID-19 related deaths in the past 24-hours after the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Provincial Health chief operations officer Lesiba Malotana has described the drop in the daily number of new coronavirus infections in the province as encouraging…
“The point that we are trying to emphasise here is that despite the numbers coming down, the province has not decreased the rate of testing that they are doing as the number of tests have been consistent despite the infections coming down. Nationally, Gauteng conducts 33 percent of the tests that are being done by NHLS, of course, the size of the population and the rate of infection.”
