DA says Tembisa hospital is overcrowded and not suitable for coronavirus cases

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng has said that one of the hospitals identified as one of three in the province that would treat coronavirus cases is “severely overcrowded” and is not suitable for dealing with the virus.

The DA’s MPL Jack Bloom said furthermore, the hospital “is only just recovering from antibiotic-resistant klebsiella infections that caused the deaths of ten babies”.

“Unlike the other two identified hospitals, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg and Steve Biko, there is simply no space at Tembisa Hospital to isolate any coronavirus patients,” Bloom said in a statement on Monday.

The DA MPL said he recently observed at the hospital’s neonatal wards how “isolation” of klebsiella-infected babies was “simply a curtained off section rather than a separate room”.

“It cannot be that Tembisa Hospital was chosen simply because it is near the O R Tambo airport where coronavirus-infected patients could enter the country.

“More coronavirus cases have been detected outside China, including five reported cases in Botswana, so the threat is real.

“I don’t think that the Gauteng health department can seriously justify the choice of Tembisa Hospital as a potential treatment centre for coronavirus cases.

“The department needs to work with the private health sector to ensure that we really are geared up to isolate and treat any coronavirus cases in Gauteng.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.