WATCH: KZN taking over Gauteng as Covid-19 hotspot, Mkhize says
KwaZulu-Natal is the province with the highest coronavirus infection rate at the moment, the health minister said.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize arrives at Nasrec Covid-19 field hospital in Johannesburg, 20 July 2020. Picture: Twitter / @DrZweliMkhize
Gauteng is the country’s coronavirus hotspot at the moment, having taken over that position from the Western Cape, but KwaZulu-Natal is on its way to take over from Gauteng when looking at its rate of infection, Health Minister Mkhize said.
He made the statement on a visit to the Nasrec Covid-19 field hospital in Johannesburg on Monday morning.
Although the Eastern Cape currently has more confirmed cases than KZN, only Gauteng has more active cases than KwaZulu-Natal.
KwaZulu-Natal has also reported 31 744 unresolved positive tests, which is 19% of all the active cases in the country.
Mkhize added that he would be “catching up with them to make sure they don’t get caught up with the numbers”, making sure that there are enough beds available for all those who need it.
“We want to make sure that they don’t have a challenge with beds and with oxygen,” the health minister said.
“We will discuss with KZN the issue of having enough beds and oxygen for patients. The turnaround times should also be reduced. Our clinicians are on top of their game and they have good enough experience,” he added.
Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize: As the dept we must stay ahead of the surge, we are looking at the trends in SA. Gauteng is still at the top of the rate of infection. KZN is taking over now & therefore we will be discussing with them how to move ahead #COVID19
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) July 20, 2020
Gauteng MEC Bandile Masuku: We are clear that by the time we get to what we call a peak, this place will be up & running as a well-oiled machine…. We want to make sure that the work we do here is able to alleviate the pressure to the facilities around the South of GP #COVID19
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) July 20, 2020
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