According to the hospital’s communication officer, Mr Matabo Letsoalo, the new high care unit was handed over to the hospital’s management after massive renovations by DID (the Department of Infrastructure Development) on 11 February. “When Covid-19 became a threat to humankind worldwide, South Africa embarked on a massive project of creating space for Covid-19 patients. Carletonville Hospital was identified as one of the hospitals that would create space to prepare for the fight against the pandemic. The renovated area has three cubicles and can accommodate five high care patients at the moment. The required equipment has been procured. The old intensive care unit was identified as one of the areas that could be reno-vated to accommodate patients infected with Covid-19,” says Letsoalo. The unit has not been in use since the dawn of democracy in South Africa, due to the hospital’s level and its infrastructural challenges. One of the major difficulties was leakage on the roof of the building, which posed a serious risk to electrical appliances. During the handover on Thursday, the area looked very different from what it did before the renovations. It previously looked so bad that some personnel described it as “a ghetto in the city”. “The community of Merafong can look back when Covid-19 is long gone and say, as much as we endured the hardships of Covid-19, we now have a high-care unit, since the area is earmarked for that purpose post Covid-19,” Letsoalo concluded. 
