VEREENIGING. – About 18 people, including some health workers, have tested positive for coronavirus at Kopanong Hospital.
Kwara Kekana, a spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Health says “Those that were identified to have been in close contact with the staff confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 were informed that they need to quarantine.
“They were given an option to either self-quarantine at home, if conditions allow, or to be assisted at a facility in Essellen Park in the East Rand.”
Kekana saidl that all those who had been in contact with the staff who had contracted the coronavirus opted to self-quarantine.
Last week health workers at the hospital downed tools saying they were concerned about their safety at the hospital as some are not given proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and sufficient sanitizers at the hospital.
On the issues of testing and PPEs, Kekana said that the department had embarked on the baseline testing of all its employees in April.
Kekana said that the entire hospital had been disinfected. Currently, the hospital has had to downscale its operations. “Some units are not operational as staff had to be quarantined,” he said.
“The entire hospital was disinfected on 7 and 8 May. The wards where other cases were confirmed were disinfected again on 20 May, with more wards to be disinfected again.
“The wards where there are no confirmed positive staff are operational, whereas the wards where there have been confirmed COVID-19 employees are not operational and others are extremely downscaled as employees are on isolation and quarantine.”
