Minister of health, Zweli Mkhize, arrived in Butterworth, Eastern Cape today, to monitor the province’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Butterworth hospital’s high care unit was renovated to receive critical patients.
He announced again that the Eastern Cape has the second highest number of coronavirus related deaths, with the Western Cape being the epicentre with the most infections as well as deaths.
“It is time for action, it is time for movement,” Mkhize said.
“We have a crisis that is forcing us to fill all the gaps we can find, in terms of infrastructure, staff, management. We must ensure people find the services capable of dealing with an influx of patients.”
He also stressed that behavioural change in these communities will contribute to curbing infections.
“The cloth face masks need to be worn properly. It must not be in your pocket or hand, but needs to be covering your nose and mouth. We want to reserve the specialised masks for healthcare professionals.”
He reported that though it’s known that the Eastern Cape numbers are rapidly rising, he hopes for these infections to increase at a slower rate.
“The numbers are going to continue to grow, our intention is not to stop the virus from spreading, but reducing the rate at which it does,” he said.
He also identified the OR Tambo district as a hotspot.
“Identifying cases and isolation are key. There is no short cut. We want to break the cycle of infection. We need to protect the senior citizens, we also need to be cautious with those people that have co-morbidities. A large number of deaths were people with co-morbidities.”
Mkhize also reported that SA has now reached the landmark of having done one million tests, and that tracking and tracing will be used in the Eastern Cape to catch up.
As of today, the cumulative number of coronavirus infections sit at 58 568 cases with 33 352 recoveries.
A staggering 1 284 deaths have been reported.
