How Gauteng plans to manage COVID-19 hotspots
The Gauteng health department has established response teams who will follow up newly-identified cases in healthcare establishments and communities.
Gauteng has outlined its strategy to prevent COVID-19 hotspots from breaking out.
On Thursday, key players in the provincial government’s response to the pandemic, such as Premier David Makhura, health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku and his education counterpart Panyaza Lesufi, sat for a briefing to give details on the province’s strategy.
These included measures put in place to reduce further spread of the virus.
In the briefing, Masuku said the health department has established response teams who will follow up newly-identified cases in healthcare establishments and communities.
South Africa has a total of 19 137 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 369 reported deaths.
Gauteng is one of the heaviest affected province, with 2 400 cases and 27 deaths, and is one of four provinces to have recorded over 1 000 infections, along with the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
How the response teams will operate
Health establishment response;
- Provide support to management and COVID-19 steering committee to resume services within the stipulated time after decontamination
- Activate contact-tracing and decontamination company to immediately respond to a health establishment where a COVID-19 case has been reported
- Establish the contacts of the positive health worker
- Arrange for the immediate counselling and debriefing of affected health worker
- Arrange for quarantine/isolation of affected health worker and contacts
- Conduct a scan of the affected area and determine the scope of the area to be decontaminated
- Identify alternative areas for the continuation of services and relocate services accordingly
- Provide incident report
Ward-based COVID-19 response team
- Focus on hotspots and vigilance areas
- Vigilance in areas with less than five active cases
- Determine the lead and involve local leadership and others in driving the intervention programme
Gauteng COVID-19 infections per district
Total confirmed cases: 2 400
Johannesburg – 1 228 (13 deaths)
Ekurhuleni – 549 (eight deaths)
Tshwane – 344 (three deaths)
Unallocated – 154
West Rand – 72 (three deaths)
Sedibeng: 43
Recoveries: 1 739
Johannesburg – 1 036
Ekurhuleni – 395
Tshwane – 241
West Rand – 43
Sedibeng: 14
#COVID19|| Gauteng confirmed cases sit 2400 with 1729 recoveries 27 deaths.#GrowingGautengTogether #GautengCOVID19 pic.twitter.com/pPEMSG0P7A
— Dr Bandile Masuku (@bandilemasuku) May 21, 2020
