The proximity of Sarah Baartman District Municipality to Nelson Mandela Bay and being the agricultural centre in the province has been cited as one of the reasons there is an increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the area.
The municipality is currently presenting its response plan to Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize.
Mkhize is visiting the district municipality which is another hotspot of COVID-19 during the second wave, after Nelson Mandela Bay.
In the video below, Nelson Mandela Bay welcomes proposals to adjust lockdown regulations:
Sarah Baartman District Municipality Speaker, Scara Njandayi says this district is on the border of Free State, Western and Northern Cape, and this could also contribute to the increasing number of infections.
“Sarah Baartman surrounds Nelson Mandela Metro. Equally, Sarah Baartman is surrounded by three provinces. It is located on the borders of three provinces,” adds Njandayi.
Running out of hospital beds
The continued spread of the coronavirus in Nelson Mandela Bay is straining medical services in the metro as hospitals are running out of beds to treat COVID-19 patients.
Now, a 2010 Soccer World Cup hospital bed back-up project has been given a new lease of life, providing 73 extra beds at the Livingston hospital in Port Elizabeth to treat COVID-19 patients. But it is situated in a rather peculiar spot – a basement parking lot of the hospital.
The video below is reporting on bed shortages in the Metro:
