Health department suspends visiting hours at Gauteng hospitals

Gauteng hospitals are under extreme pressure amid the third wave of coronavirus infections and as a result, the department of health has suspended visiting hours until further notice.

As of Thursday, 11,767 new cases and 100 deaths brought the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa to 1,786,079.

Gauteng hospitals under strain

Covid-19 infections in Gauteng continue to rise exponentially. To reduce the risk of patients in Gauteng hospitals contracting the virus, drastic measures were needed, the provincial department of health said.

The department said it will “make an exception for one visitor, however, said visitor would not be allowed to spend more than 15 minutes with the patient”.

In addition, the visit must be pre-arranged and authorised by the attending doctor and the visitor must be screened for temperature and Covid-19 symptoms.

It goes without saying that all visitors should, if their appointments are approved, adhere to Covid-19 protocols at all times.

Now read: R2 billion set aside to fight Covid-19 raging in Gauteng

Covid-19 breakdown in Gauteng

The department on Thursday also released its provincial breakdown of the state of Covid-19 in Gauteng. As of 16 June, the total number of confirmed cases in the province is 522,366, along with 464,738 recoveries and 11,861 deaths.

At the time of publishing, 4,678 patients were hospitalised in both private and public facilities. Thus far 491,671 people in Gauteng have been vaccinated.

Johannesburg has 204,776 positive cases, along with 3,688 deaths and 183,353 recoveries, while Ekurhuleni reports a caseload of 108,474, with a death toll of 1,590 and 97,275 recoveries.

In Tshwane, 139,526 patients contracted Covid-19, while 122,714 have recovered and 3,363 passed away. Sedibeng has a caseload of 33,510, with 1,042 deaths and 30,278 recoveries.

The West Rand has the lowest caseload, with 32,166 cases, a death toll of 959 and 27,441 recoveries.

A total of 3,914 cases, 78 deaths and 3,677 recoveries are unallocated. These cases “refer to the confirmed cases in Gauteng that are not yet allocated to one of the five districts in the province”.