Three new hospitals on way as Winde works with supermarkets on their precautions

16 April 2020 - 18:01 By TimesLIVE
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Western Cape Premier Alan Winde is screened before entering a K-Way factory that has been turned over to making masks for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde is screened before entering a K-Way factory that has been turned over to making masks for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Image: Western Cape government

Three temporary Covid-19 hospitals with between 300 and 650 beds are on their way in the Western Cape, premier Alan Winde said on Thursday.

Two of the hospitals would be in the Cape Town metro, home to 84% of the province's coronavirus patients so far.

“We are in the advanced stages of planning and negotiation on some of these sites and will make announcements in this regard shortly,” said Winde.

Community screening of 28,718 people since April 4 had detected a number of Covid-19 cases linked to supermarkets, the premier added.

“Supermarkets are one of the few spaces during a lockdown where members of the public interface,” he said. “It is therefore crucial that those who shop take excellent hygiene and social distancing precautions. We also encourage the use of clean, cloth masks.

“We have worked with these supermarkets to screen, test and isolate cases and to ensure close contacts quarantine themselves. Stores have also been closed to allow for deep cleaning so as to ensure they are safe for customers.

“We have also as a result proactively developed protocols to be used in the retail sector, and will be meeting supermarket representatives soon to discuss these.”

Winde said the number of Covid-19 cases had risen by 26 in the past day to 702. Just over 29% of patients had recovered and seven had died. Of the 490 active cases, 35 were in hospital and 16 in intensive care.

“As community screening and testing continues to reach more people, the need for isolation and quarantine facilities will increase. This enables us to place into safe facilities people who may not be able to isolate or quarantine in their homes,” said Winde.

“We already have a number of sites available to us which have been in use up until now. The Western Cape government does not reveal the location of these sites in order to protect patient privacy.”

Winde said 854 people had responded to the provincial government's recruitment drive for volunteers with medical experience. Their applications were being reviewed.

“We thank all of these people for offering to step up to the front-line to help the thousands of Western Cape government health care workers who have already been activated, or who stand ready to respond to increased admissions as a result of Covid-19,” he said.


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