WATCH | Patients moved after wards flooded at Charlotte Maxeke hospital

Ventilated patients at Johannesburg's Charlotte Maxeke Hospital were on Monday moved out of the trauma ICU as the electricity was at risk in the main ICU, where Covid-19 patients are managed, due to a flooding incident.

The flooding is believed to be a result of a burst pipe in the roof in one of the blocks at the hospital.

The wards affected are alleged to be busy wards on a normal day.

Jack Bloom, the DA’s shadow health MEC in Gauteng, said: “It’s very tragic especially now that we have entered the fourth wave of Covid-19 cases. One of the areas they had to evacuate was the ICU for Covid-19 patients.”

“There are long-standing maintenance problems at that hospital and it’s really very hard on staff and patients. It’s affecting the operations of the hospital, including the ICU, which are absolutely critical,” he said.

Bloom said the incident is a result of years of poor maintenance that should have been attended to.

“It’s very serious because it’s affecting the ICU. We are going to need the ICU because of Covid-19 cases. The hospital has just been a disaster as far as maintenance is concerned and the problems from the fire. This is lots of years of poor maintenance.” Bloom said.

This is a developing story.

TimesLIVE