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KwaZulu-Natal Prime Minister Sihle Zikalala says the private hospitals in Kingsway and St Augustine will be able to reopen under strict conditions, following recent temporary closings due to coronavirus cases.
The Netcare group, which owns both hospitals, confirmed Saturday that both hospitals have received the green light to reopen on Monday.
In an informative conference broadcast live on Sunday, Zikalala said that hospitals would need to follow regulations issued by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
He said that personal protective equipment (PPE) would have to be released to all personnel, who would undergo Covid-19 training. A fever clinic would also be established.
The guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Department of Health should also be implemented and followed. The provincial health department would supervise the facilities by making visits without prior notice.
Kingsway Hospital closed for new admissions when 10 staff members tested positive last month, News24 reported.
San Agustin also closed in early April after at least 47 staff members tested positive.
The provincial health department, as well as Netcare, began investigations and contact tracing to discover how the infections occurred.
General Justice Gizenga Mpanza Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, a government hospital, also closed its doors after 16 people tested positive for Covid-19, Zikalala said.
Zikalala said that nine mothers, two babies, four doctors and a nurse tested positive at the hospital.
19 new cases per day in KZN on average
Zikalala said there were an average of 19 new laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases per day in the province, with eThekwini and iLembe District Municipality leading the case numbers in the province.
Zikalala said there were 54 cases reported on Saturday.
The province has registered a total of 1,307 positive cases, with 608 recoveries and 43 deaths.
The province has carried out 47,012 tests, with 2,370,006 people examined.
Thirteen patients are currently in the ICU for Covid-19, Zikalala said.
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Judging by the province’s current patient burden, Zikalala said there was enough PPE in stock. However, more was needed as the province prepared for the “worst case scenario.”
The province also identified categories of health care personnel to employ in order to increase human resource capacity, Zikalala said.
It included professional nurses, registered nurses, general service personnel, and administrative support personnel, who would be employed on a six-month contract to assist with patient management.
As a precautionary measure, Zikalala also said that members of the public with serious underlying medical conditions would have priority to receive medications dispensed outside the health system. This included people over 60 and people with TB, HIV, diabetes, mellitus, and hypertension.
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