At the end of every day, with rare exception, a statement from the national health department drops with the latest Covid-19 infection figures, including vaccine rollout details. The regularity of the updates, which SA has come to rely on, is to be applauded.
The numbers tell a frightening story. By Sunday, Gauteng was leading the charge, accounting for 64% of new infections.
Yet among provincial officials, there seems to be no sense of urgency to try to prevent a full-scale disaster.
Many reasons are bandied about to account for the sharp increase, especially in Gauteng. People have Covid-19 fatigue; they simply don’t believe things are that bad. A year into lockdown has dulled the senses.
Those lackadaisical in their approach to the pandemic need a reality check. It needs to be spelt out exactly how bad things can get. Here, the numbers will tell the story.
Yet, questions sent to Gauteng health department by TimesLIVE last week about the number of available hospital beds, including those in ICU and high-care facilities, received a scant reply with no details.
Information is power. Our leaders need to make people understand that if we don’t do our part the chances are a parent, grandparent or child will stand outside a hospital in desperate need of medical care, and there will be none.
This situation affects everyone, not just those who have the virus.
There is the threat that one might end up in a hospital bed after hours of waiting, but still not have access to oxygen. Or instead of having full medical care after an operation, a patient is sent home to recover because the bed is needed for someone else.
[At] full capacity, in the public sector we do have about 4,000 [beds] and the private sector still has some capacity, but they are now running at about 70% [full], which is not good.
— Gauteng government spokesperson Thabo Masebe
Gauteng government spokesperson Thabo Masebe, in an interview on Radio 702 on Monday, revealed some information, but inspired little confidence that authorities are being proactive in trying to curb the spread of the virus. “In the past, there were about 2,000 admissions and now we have about 3,000, so they [hospitals] are feeling the pressure.”
“[At] full capacity, in the public sector we do have about 4,000 [beds] and the private sector still has some capacity, but they are now running at about 70% [full], which is not good,” he said.
“We are under pressure. We are running out of ICU and high-care beds ... We need to try [to] slow down the rate of infections,” Masebe added.
“We have to do everything possible to try [to] avoid that [further spread]. Now we can only hope those infected do not get seriously ill to the point that they need to be hospitalised.”
Added to this is the pressure of Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, a crucial Covid-19 facility, having still not reopened after a fire earlier this year.
We are feeling the pressure and the positivity rate is increasing by the day. The facilities are overwhelmed with the increase in Covid-19-positive patients.
— Dr Ashley Mthunzi, Tembisa Hospital CEO
The installation of fire doors is the holdup, said Masebe.
“We need to install fire doors in terms of the building regulations and we don’t have those fire doors at the Charlotte Maxeke hospital. We now have to find them and install them. That is the outstanding issue.”
A very urgent outstanding issue, yet our authorities are still searching for fire doors.
Tembisa Hospital’s acting CEO, Dr Ashley Mthunzi, said on Friday: “We are feeling the pressure and the positivity rate is increasing by the day. The facilities are overwhelmed with the increase in Covid-19-positive patients.”
Also on Friday, Gauteng health spokesperson Kwara Kekana said more than 3,500 people had been hospitalised at public and private facilities. A total of 373 people were on ventilators in ICU, while 118 were on oxygen.
The Gauteng government needs to be much more forceful in its messaging to the public. It also needs to enforce regulations, publicise where people in need of help should go and find a way to reopen one of its biggest public hospitals.
Its strategy of “only hoping” it will not get worse does not cut it.
