GAUTENG.- In spite of the health system in Gauteng operating under increased load due to the rise in COVID-19 cases the province is still able to cope with the pressure at this stage.
So said Gauteng MEC for Health Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi, who has also assured the public that healthcare workers and the department remain committed to confront the 3rd wave and that additional human resource personnel are being appointed to add to the 5521 COVID-19 posts filled as of 1 June 2021.
“Our system might be under pressure, but we still have the will and enough capacity to cope with the demand. We are adding more healthcare personnel to make sure more available beds are fully functional,” explains MEC Mokgethi adding that the South African National Defense Force (SANDF) is also deploying its medical personnel to boost capacity in the province.
The Health MEC further pointed because of Gauteng having adopted a Risk Adjusted and Demand Informed Strategy it is able to optimize its response to the 3rd Wave and the COVID-19 Pandemic in general.
“We have dedicated Covid-19 functional beds across the province supported by a live electronic COVID-19 Bed Management Dashboard which we use to monitor the utilization of beds across the province.
In addition to the newly built infrastructure in areas such Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Jubilee Hospital and Bronkhorstspruit Hospital and the repurposed Tshwane District Hospital as an example, wards and beds in other facilities are always repurposed based on the demands of the pandemic at any given the time.”
Mokgethi said that the Gauteng Department of Health has activated resurgence plans across its five districts to minimize the impact of COVID-19 third wave. This includes, intensified COVID-19 screening and testing activities in communities with contacts followed-up appropriately.
There is also collaborative work led by other government agencies to improve law enforcement in various settings to ensure compliance to COVID-19 protocols in line with the national lockdown Alert Level 3.
Meanwhile, the Gauteng province has ramped up its vaccination programme by ensuring that more sites are opened up. There are now 137 active sites (89 Public and 48 private) with 8 new sites added.
The plan is to increase capacity and to ensure that more sites get to also operate over the weekend, with the Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital vaccination being the first site in the province to open seven days a week.
All public vaccinations sites in Gauteng accept walk-ins for those who are 60 years and above, whether people are registered on the EVDS or not. All persons will be assisted with registration and will be vaccinated, even those who are registered and waiting for SMSes.
