A response to a Democratic Alliance (DA) parliamentary question posed to the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, has shockingly revealed that the two provinces which are experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases and fatalities effectively have one functioning field hospital between the two.
Gauteng, the current epicentre of Covid-19, has recently launched the Nasrec Facility which is currently operating as a quarantine facility as opposed to a field hospital. In Parliament, the Minister confirmed that this will soon include more equipment and more staff members to make it fully functional. The key difference between a quarantine facility and a field hospital is the presence of hospital beds, oxygen supply, staff members that can treat patients who may be stable enough not to be in ICU. Currently, the Nasrec facility isn’t equipped to be a field hospital. While functioning as a quarantine facility, the province is in need of a hospital that can help ease the pressure on the hospitals which are currently at full capacity.
The DA supported the government’s strategy to lockdown the country for 21 days in order to build health capacity. It was specifically for days like this. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the now more than 100-day lockdown was wasted as government has failed to utilize the period to effectively build this capacity.
The Eastern Cape has a field hospital which was donated through the private sector – a welcomed move because the fight against Covid-19 is not one for the public sector alone. However, the province is experiencing an explosion of cases and fatalities and the health system in the province is currently on its knees with facilities having run out of space for patients; insufficient ambulances in areas like Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and chronic staff shortages. It is unthinkable that the province is yet to build a field hospital in the various parts across the province in order to ease the pressure being experienced at facilities.
The Minister’s reply further revealed that three provinces, Limpopo, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga has 0 field hospitals by the end of June. The Western Cape is the only province in which all planned field hospitals are completed with 1 268 beds, the most of any province. It is now clear that the Department did not use the risk-adjusted lockdown, that has been devastating to the economy, as a chance to prepare the health system for the surge in Covid-19 cases.
Minister Mkhize now needs to make the difficult choices. He needs to urgently place the Eastern Cape under administration according to Section 100 of the Constitution in order to place an operational team that will salvage the situation before more lives are lost where this could be prevented. He also needs to commit to having the Nasrec Facility kitted with staff and equipment in order to have it as a functional field hospital.
The free-fall being experienced in these provinces can be arrested, but it will need political will and competent administrative leadership. If none exist, the Minister must bypass the deadwood in these departments and act to save lives.
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