Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said yesterday the province had asked for help from the army as its hospitals were ‘overwhelmed’.
News24 reported that Eastern Cape hospitals were struggling to cope with the influx of patients, compounded by staff at some hospitals embarking on protests over various grievances about their working conditions.
The Eastern Cape has the third highest number of cumulative cases in the country so far (29 340, or 18.4% of the national total). The highest is in the Western Cape (64 377, or 40.4%), followed by Gauteng (45 944, or 28.8%).
Mabuyane said at a coronavirus command council press briefing yesterday: ‘In light of our health system being overwhelmed, we have made a request to national government to deploy the medical team of the South African National Defence Force to assist us with the health intervention of our strategy.’
Health department superintendent general Dr Thobile Mbengashe said projections showed the province would need 10 000 beds to deal with the Covid-19 storm when the virus peaked in the province in the next three months.
Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, incorporating Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Motherwell, has the highest number of infections in the Eastern Cape (7 827 confirmed cases and 136 deaths). Mthatha’s OR Tambo District has the second highest number of deaths, at 92, and 4 772 infections, while the Buffalo City Metro has recorded 80 deaths and 6 767 infections.
Cumulative cases in the country rose yesterday by 8 124 to 159 333 (with 76 025 recoveries) and 92 deaths in four provinces took the toll to 2 749.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a televised question-and-answer session last evening that the number of infections was rising at a fast rate. South Africa was experiencing the infection surge scientists had long predicted.
He said that while the lockdown had enabled the health authorities to prepare for the rise in infections, he was concerned that people were becoming complacent about sticking to regulations and sensible hygiene practices.
In other virus-related news
- America’s top infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci said current numbers of over 40 000 new cases reported every day put the ‘entire country at risk’. He said he would ‘not be surprised if we go up to 100 000 a day’;
- Reuters reported that Oxford University vaccinology professor Sarah Gilbert said her team’s potential Covid-19 vaccine – now entering Phase III trials, with 8 000 volunteers – had generated the ‘right sort of immune response’ so far. She said it was not yet possible to say when a vaccine might be ready;
- The United Nations said the coronavirus crisis could cost global tourism and related sectors between $1.2 trillion to $3.3 trillion in lost revenue; and
- Brothels were given the green light to reopen in Austria and the Netherlands yesterday.