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Military medics to assist Gauteng in managing Covid-19 third-wave crisis

Details

sandf thumb medium90 89BusinessLive reports that as Gauteng battles the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, military health practitioners have been brought in to help the province’s hospitals deal with the dramatic surge in cases.

The military staff would also assist with mass testing, screening and contact tracing in the province, acting health minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said at a media briefing Friday. She said the minister of defence and military veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, had agreed on Thursday to the use of military health practitioners from Friday to ease the burden on Gauteng health professionals, who were under intense pressure. Kubayi-Ngubane said she was very concerned about the rate of infection in Gauteng, which had passed the numbers of the first and second waves. There has been a critical shortage of beds as the third Covid-19 wave hit the province. Health department director-general Sandile Buthelezi said Gauteng would not be using field hospitals because of their expense and the fact that they were not fully used during previous waves of the epidemic, but 1,100 extra beds had been made available to bring the total in the province to nearly 4,000. Deputy director-general Anban Pillay gave an assurance that there were would be significant quantities of vaccines — both Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson — in the third quarter beginning July, which would see the national vaccination campaign being ramped up.

  • Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Linda Ensor at BusinessLive
  • Read too, Gauteng reels under third wave of Covid-19 infections, at Sunday Independent
  • And also, Gauteng’s third wave health emergency: Desperate doctors appeal for more support, at Daily Maverick


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