The Gauteng Department of Health has put additional measures in place to deal with the spread of Covid-19 following the declaration of a national state of disaster by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
According to Kwara Kekana, Gauteng Health MEC spokesperson, the following measures apply to Gauteng facilities:
• All elective surgeries are hereby cancelled (these are surgeries that are planned in advance rather than those done in an emergency situation)
• Elective surgery with planned high care should be rescheduled to maintain surgical capacity
• All annual health events are cancelled
• The Out Patient Department (OPD) will reduce the number of patient visits by using the appointment system
• A separate area for patients with flu-like symptoms is to be identified in facilities
• Thuthuzela Health Care Centre services are to be extended beyond providing Forensic Services
• Increase the number of chronic patients to be linked with Centralised Chronic Medical Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD), and patients to be provided with three months’ supply of medication, and a repeat script for six months
• Patients will also be encouraged to use Pele Boxes to collect medication
• Restrictions have been imposed on visiting hours in health-care facilities. During the visiting hour, a patient will be allowed a maximum of two visitors per day. Only one visitor per patient will be allowed at a time, for no more than 15 minutes. There will be no rotation of visitors. No visitors will be allowed outside of the specified visiting hours.
“We thank the public for their cooperation during this period,” Kwara added.
