The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the North West has called on the provincial health department to desist from placing patients under what it says is forceful isolation.
DA Provincial Spokesperson for Social Development and Health, Gavin Edwards says patients have been forcefully isolated at the Klerksdorp Tshepong Hospital while awaiting their COVID-19 test results.
Edwards says the hospital is not in a good condition, the bathroom facilities are filthy and there are no sanitizers available.
He says medical staff do not have personal protective equipment, patients are being kept in an open ward under unhygienic conditions, which risks exposure to COVID-19.
Edwards says, “The undue forced isolation of patients will discourage patients possibly infected with COVID-19 of coming forward and presenting themselves for testing. These patients have been waiting for four days for their test results instead of the prescribed 48 hours, which is just unacceptable, and not only adds the burden on their health but also increases the risk on infections. The DA will continue to monitor the situation, and ensure the safety of the patients and health workers is made a priority.”
North West Health MEC Madoda Sambatha says they have to manage the quarantine of patients to prevent the spread of the virus.
Sambatha says, “Any doctor who says his or her patient must be given a self-quarantine must do so in writing and request permission from the MEC of health. The MEC of health will then send officials to check whether self-quarantine is possible, but if not, everybody who can not self-quarantine at home is going to be quarantined in a government facility. The DA must be clear as to who are they speaking on behalf.”
In the video below, churchgoers in North West affected by COVID -19:
Ramaphosa to visit Gauteng COVID-19 sites
President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Friday be visiting sites identified as COVID-19 facilities in the Gauteng province.
Ramaphosa will be accompanied by the Premier David Makhura.
He will commence his programme at the Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg, where he will do a walkabout of a hall demarcated as a quarantine or isolation facility for patients.
Ramaphosa will then proceed to the Johannesburg Central Food Bank in Booysens, which is also used to assist communities in need of food parcels during the coronavirus outbreak.
Government routinely uses food banks across the country to provide social relief to communities. Currently, this service has been intensified as part of the national response to COVID-19.
The programme of the President will conclude with a site visit at the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital, one of the hospitals designated to manage COVID-19 cases.
On Thursday, President Ramaphosa announced that as from the first of May, the national coronavirus alert level will be lowered from five to four.
INFOGRAPHIC: SA’s COVID-19 cases and deaths:
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