Health
With regard to the outbreak of the coronavirus and the first confirmed cases in South Africa:
- What intervention measures have been put in place to prevent the spread of the virus in the province;
- whether there are mechanisms in place to raise awareness about the virus in townships and rural areas where people do not have access to smartphones and/or social media; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
The first case of COVID-19 was reported in the province on 11 March.
We have strengthened the contact tracing teams this remains a key part of our health response.
The province has also introduced GIS mapping of cases, as well as the use of a forecasting tool to ensure that we are able to pinpoint on a map exactly where each infection is situated.
A Provincial Hotline was established on: 021 928 4102.
We have developed an online self-assessment tool, which allows people to determine their risk and whether they need to go for testing, which helps to filter the number of calls and the number of people visiting facilities.
Cabinet has been receiving daily briefings from the work streams.
Cabinet approved a proposal by the Provincial Treasury to make funds available to fight the Coronavirus.
The Department of Health in the province has started the process of minimising the numbers of people using our health care facilities to reduce crowding and encourage social distancing. This includes limiting visitors to hospitals, and rescheduling elective surgeries and non-critical appointments.
This means we will be able to scale up capacity to respond.
For some of our 700 000 stable chronic patients, we have introduced home deliveries of their medications using our networks of community healthcare workers. We are also giving stable patients attending our facilities a two-month supply of medication to ensure they spend less time queueing in busy facilities.
We have had successful meetings with the private health care sector and general practioners and have ascertained the available resources in both private and provincial healthcare.
An internal Health Command response has been developed to ensure coordinated control in any scenario.
We have developed tented screening facilities to add alternative infrastructure. We are also working to develop acute facilities in existing wards for COVID patients and alternative isolation facilities, for patients who cannot do this at home.
We have allocated temporary step-down facilities, where patients who are mainly in need of oxygenation treatment, can go.
In line with World Health Organisation guidelines to increase testing, we have started to scale up our testing.
We expect to see our infection numbers increase as a result of this, however, we believe effective testing, combined with our contact tracing and the planned lockdown, are key in helping to flatten the infection curve and prevent our healthcare system from becoming over-burdened.
We have placed orders for R45 million in medical equipment including personal protective equipment (PPE), some of which will be arriving in the country in the first week of April.
A PPE guideline has been developed. Surgical masks should only be worn by anyone who is ill (flu, TB etc) and anyone who is working with patients.
- A policy for waste and linen management for COVID-19 has also been developed by the Department of Health.
- The Western Cape Government has been running a major communication campaign for several weeks, sharing information in all three official languages. This includes radio campaigns on 29 radio stations, with a high frequency reaching a high percentage of the Western Cape population. We have distributed over 6 million SMSs with information. Our Facebook targeting has reached 1.4 million people. The City of Cape Town, GCIS, local municipalities and the Department of Health have distributed 1.3 million pamphlets in the province and over 15 000 posters. We also ran print campaigns in community newspapers aimed at ensuring residents are informed.
