Publicly admitting for the first time that the Eastern Cape health department was struggling to cope with the high number of Covid-19 cases, premier Oscar Mabuyane on Tuesday said he had asked President Cyril Ramaphosa for help.
He has requested that SA National Defence Force medical staff be deployed to the Eastern Cape to help fight the spread of Covid-19,Concerns have been raised that the province, which had been expected to reach its coronavirus peak around September, had peaked too early, with health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize warning citizens to brace for a storm.
The Eastern Cape had 26,195 confirmed cases, 397 deaths and 12,824 recoveries at the time of writing on Tuesday afternoon. His comment, no surprise to many, comes as the provincial healthcare system buckles under the strain of 838 health workers testing positive for the novel virus. So far 24 have died.
One hospital that needs intensive care beds is Cecilia Makiwane in Mdantsane, which only has two, though another 12 are expected to be added.The 3,000 ICU beds needed was based on scientific evidence and not a “thumb suck”.
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