Three patients are being kept in the isolation ward of Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, while they await the results of their coronavirus tests. The rest results are expected today.
Eighty-seven people have so far been tested in the Western Cape. The province’s first coronavirus patient is currently in self-isolation at home in Cape Town.
Premier Alan Winde says the man presented himself to a health facility for a check-up after returning from Europe, where he had travelled widely.
Winde says an outbreak response team is trying to trace all his known contacts.
Gauteng has four cases – a 33-year-old female who had travelled to Italy and returned on March 1, 2020; and a couple, 34-year-old male and a 33-year-old female who had travelled to Germany. They returned to South Africa on March 9 2020. As well as a 57-year-old male who travelled to Austria and Italy and returned to South Africa on March 9 2020.
KwaZulu-Natal has one case. A 40-year-old male who had travelled to Portugal and returned on March 7.
All patients have been advised they have tested positive for the virus. Those who are symptomatic have started receiving treatment.
Below is a map of the designated hospitals to deal with the virus:
Video | Coronavirus footprint in Africa
Booking and screening of patients
The South African Medical Association (SAMA) also advised General Practitioners and other healthcare professionals to develop new ways of booking and screening patients suspected of being infected with the coronavirus to avoid its further spread.
SAMA says having measures in place to book patients before they arrive at the practice will also prevent other patients from getting infected.
SAMA Chairperson, Angelique Coetzee explains, “The problem arises because you, as a GP, don’t know the type of patient that is making an appointment at your surgery. Even if you know that they may have complained of colds and flu, you still don’t know whether it’s a real cold or flu or whether this is part of the coronavirus.”
Charlotte Maxeke Hospital is one of three dedicated facilities in Gauteng for the treatment and isolation of conronavirus cases.
