Netcare slams false parking lot morgue reports

Netcare Bougainville Hospital management has denied reports that a temporary morgue has been set up in their parking lot.

This comes after a chain of messages began circulating on WhatsApp and Facebook to residents in surrounding areas.

The hospital is situated in the same complex block as the Bougainville Shopping Centre in the west of Pretoria.

Messages claimed the shopping centre’s parking lot was being used as a temporary morgue because there was no space in the morgue at the hospital.

The spread of the false information has come as a surprise to the hospital’s management, said Netcare spokesperson Martina Nicholson.

“I can confirm that the information circulated is totally inaccurate and misleading.”

The spread of false information during the pandemic has been a rising concern, with President Cyril Ramaphosa often warning citizens against this as it can have a negative effect on health facilities and healthcare workers.

Meanwhile, Netcare has also ramped up operations at all of its hospitals in response to escalating Covid-19 cases throughout the country.

Netcare group CEO Dr Richard Friedland said this is particularly necessary as a sharp increase in cases is expected over the next two weeks.

“In Gauteng we are, as expected, already experiencing an alarming rise in admissions of Covid-19 patients across all our facilities. This is expected to rapidly worsen over the next two weeks,” Friendland said.

“Netcare has called all staff back from leave and is expecting to have staff levels back to full complement by the end of this week.

“The company has in addition recruited several doctors and clinical associates to assist hospitals and physicians, and has also employed a number of unemployed social workers to assist with patient liaison.”

Asset manager at the shopping centre, Ian van der Merwe confirmed there were no disruptions at the centre or any of its stores.

“It has been business as usual at the centre. We have always adhered to the restrictions in place as set out by the government,” Van der Merwe said.

The shopping centre’s management said that a tent is set up in the parking lot from time to time for blood donations.

There were no blood donations taking place this week though and no tent or temporary structure had been set up in the parking lot.

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