Government is leaving nothing to chance, with the number of COVID-19 infection cases expected to increase, as millions of people return to work on Monday under level 3 lockdown.
Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille said on Friday that her department was working around the clock to procure enough beds for those who are likely to get sick.
Briefing the media with her colleagues in the economic cluster serving in the National Coronavirus Command Council, De Lille said as part of government’s response to address the spread of COVID-19, her department had identified quarantine sites in all 44 districts and eight metropolitans.
“DPWI has been working in all fronts over the past two months to ensure we’re ready for all eventualities and the worst-case scenario by having enough quarantine facilities available as per the need that arises and should the number of people who need to be quarantined increase dramatically,” she said.
De Lille also thanked the private sector, especially the hospitality industry, that has availed their facilities to be turned into quarantine sites.
Government has 1 751 facilities which translate to 129 600 beds across the country so far.
“In the Western Cape for an example which is an epicentre of COVID-19 in our country, there are 358 facilities that have been identified representing 27 500 beds.”
Nationally, 395 facilities representing more than 35 700 beds have been assessed by the Health Department.
She said more of these sites are from state-owned-entities such as Eskom and Transnet and managed by the provincial government.
“With these numbers, we can assure South Africans of the DPWI’s state of readiness to have enough quarantine facilities available as the need arises with an expected increase in infections and repatriations,” De Lille added.
Meanwhile, the DPWI has assisted with procuring quarantine sites for more than 10 000 South Africans who have been repatriated from all over the world and were required to be in quarantine for the mandatory 14-day period in order to confirm that they test negative for COVID-19 before they are reunited with their families.
“There is also work underway by the provincial public works departments in relation to field hospitals,” she said.
The Department is also restoring hospitals and identifying field hospitals.
In the Eastern Cape, 32 hospitals will undergo refurbishment, 19 in KwaZulu-Natal and 10 sites have been identified for field hospitals in Mpumalanga while the province is currently busy with technical assessments.
In the Western Cape, the Cape Town International Convention Centre has been completed as a field hospital and the province is still identifying more sites.
“In the North West, teams are focusing on augmenting the capacity of existing hospitals by constructing additional structures.”
Meanwhile, the other provinces are still in the process of finalising their plans for field hospitals.
“We are committed to continuing our task and doing all we can to keep citizens safe during this time and do all we can to curb the spread of the virus,” she added. – SAnews.gov.za
