A worker in the medical field said that Middelburg currently has more than 700 Covid positive residents and that beds at medical facilities are becoming scarcer by the day.

Hennie Viljoen, Life Midmed Hospital manager, confirmed that the hospital has no Intensive Care Unit beds available and that the Covid wards are full. He confirmed that they are looking at the option of a field hospital but said that he could not comment on the matter as it is still in the negotiation stage and nothing has been finalized.

Mr Viljoen would not be drawn too comment on whether there is a higher death rate during the second wave.

A doctor at the Middelburg Hospital said that the hospital does not have an ICU and that critical patients are transferred to the Witbank Hospital for treatment.