Hospitals In Gauteng Face Being Overrun By Covid Surge

HOSPITAL capacity in South Africa’s industrial hub of Gauteng is at risk of being breached by surging Covid-19 cases within days.

The densely populated province, which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, accounts for the bulk of the country’s infections during the ongoing third wave, and health resources are already stretched.

Weekly hospital admissions are almost as high as they were during the first two waves.

Yet at current staffing levels, only about 100 of about 1,000 extra beds that have been specially equipped for Covid-19 in Gauteng are able to be used, according to Shabir Madhi, a professor of vaccinology at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand. “It seems the province forgot to budget or employ staff to manage those fa

“It seems the province forgot to budget or employ staff to manage those facilities,” Madhi said. “It needs to happen by this weekend or else we are going to be in