KZN prepares for deployment of 28 Cuban doctors in Covid-19 fight

At least 28 Cuban doctors are readying themselves to be deployed to KwaZulu-Natal this week.

The provincial department of health, together with the premier's office, will officially welcome the Cuban health experts on Thursday during a briefing in Pietermaritzburg, the province's capital.

KwaZulu-Natal has the fourth-highest number of Covid-19 infections in the country, after the Western Cape, Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.

On Sunday, provincial health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu told the media that about 28 Cuban doctors would be deployed in the province, adding that more details of their deployment would be revealed during the course of the week.

Premier Sihle Zikalala said more than 2.4-million people in the province had been screened for Covid-19, resulting in more than 59,000 tests being conducted.

He added that 1,498 people had tested positive and 806 people had recovered.  

After the arrival of the Cuban brigade in SA on April 26, health minister Zweli Mkhize said most of the doctors would be deployed in the Covid-19 “hotspot” provinces: the Western Cape, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Mkhize said 29 of the doctors would work in Gauteng, while 28 would be deployed in KwaZulu-Natal and 26 in the Western Cape.

The rest of the group will be deployed as follows:

• Eastern Cape — 20;
• Free State — 17;
• Mpumalanga — 14;
• Limpopo — 13;
• North West — 13; and
• Northern Cape — 11.