Eskom has donated it’s Academy of Learning centre in Midrand to the government to be used as a coronavirus quarantine site.
The facility, which has 416 beds and other facilities, will be used to accommodate guests of the government who have to undergo a period of quarantine and observation for signs of the coronavirus.
Andre de Ruyter, Eskom’s chief executive, said, ” In accordance with our values of zero harm and sinobuntu [meaning we care], Eskom pledges to be an active and responsive partner of the people of South Africa as we embark on this unprecedented struggle against the common enemy that is the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Dr Sifiso Maseko, the head of infrastructure at the Gauteng Department of Health, said that this facility will help contribute to the Gauteng Department of Health’s efforts to find about 10 000 beds to accommodate its guests in facilities that still afford them the privacy and dignity they should expect during this difficult time.
In line with the department’s health requirements, the Gauteng Department of Health has taken over and will run the facility during the period of national lockdown and for some time thereafter. Following the government’s demobilisation process, and based on the World Health Organisation’s best practice, the property will then be handed back to Eskom to continue to be used as a training centre.
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