Virus infrastructure must still be used after pandemic is over, says MEC

Acting heath MEC Jacob Mamabolo has called on the Gauteng health department to ensure that temporary infrastructure such as “fever tents”, used as part of its Covid-19 response, be used beyond the pandemic.

On Wednesday, the department said that as part of the fight against the pandemic, it used 26 “fever tents” which cost about R14-million, 13 of which were owned by the department.

Mamabolo said this as he completed his preliminary audit of temporary coronavirus structures as part of his province-wide visit to health facilities since being appointed as acting health MEC more than a month ago.

The “fever tents” were set up in July, mostly at entrances of the various facilities and have been used to assist with the screening of patients.

According to the department, 13 of the tents came at a rental cost of R7.8-million, contracts which were concluded through the Gauteng department of infrastructure and property management, while R7.1-million was for the total number of tents purchased to be owned by the department.

“Gauteng province’s strategy has always been to invest in legacy projects through major refurbishments and additional beds at existing hospitals such as Jubilee, Chris Hani Baragwanath and others. These projects continue to be implemented and are at various stages. They are an investment in the health system even post the Covid-19 pandemic,” Mamabolo said.

The Gauteng health department currently has only the Nasrec expo centre as a field hospital.

Further to this, he said that the Gauteng disaster management provincial command council resolved that there would be no expansion of field hospitals.

“This was because of how well the province had done in its response to the pandemic, reducing the need for field hospitals.

“The Nasrec expo centre field hospital remains operational. The equipment invested in the facility largely belongs to the department.”

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