Trauma unit at Durban's St Augustine's hospital closed amid Covid-19 testing

03 April 2020 - 11:27 By Lwandile Bhengu
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
The trauma unit of St Augustine's hospital was shut on Friday. Managers said they were 'working on a statement' to explain what was happening.
The trauma unit of St Augustine's hospital was shut on Friday. Managers said they were 'working on a statement' to explain what was happening.
Image: Lwandile Bhengu

The trauma unit at Durban's St Augustine's hospital was temporarily shut down on Friday.

When TimesLIVE visited the hospital on Friday morning,  security guards at the hospital said no-one was allowed to enter the unit at the hospital because of the “virus”. 

Patients coming in were either being diverted to ambulances stationed outside the emergency room entrance or being diverted to other hospitals.

A doctor who didn't want to be identified said the unit was put on precautionary shutdown amid coronavirus testing.

“We are not sure what is happening but we are told there is swabbing of patients and staff.”

The hospital said that they were working on a statement.

This is a developing story.

The Covid-19 coronavirus, targets human cells with ACE2 receptors, which are found in the respiratory system. The immune response can trigger potentially deadly inflammations and the virus can spread from the lungs to other organs. Here’s a visual representation of how Covid-19 infects and damages the human body.


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now