North West hospital suspends visits as Covid-19 cases spike
North West Health MEC Madoda Sambatha says the province recorded an average of 300 cases in a day.
RUSTENBURG, June 7 (ANA) – The Klerksdorp/Tshepong and West Vaal Hospital Complex in North West has suspended visits at their premises with immediate effect, the hospitals said on Monday.
Spokesperson Nico Masiu said this was due to a surge in admissions in Klerksdorp/Tshepong and West Vaal Hospital Complex following the third wave of Covid-19 infections.
“This increases the risk of cross infection to vulnerable patients in the hospital complex if human movement is not restricted. Hence the management of Klerksdorp/Tshepong / West Vaal Hospital Complex has decided to stop all visitors during visiting hours with immediate effect until further notice.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause,” he said in a statement.
Earlier on Monday, North West Health MEC Madoda Sambatha raised concerns over the increase of daily Covid-19 positive cases across the province.
He said the province has been experiencing the spike in Covid-19 cases in the past seven days with an average of 300 cases reported daily.
“The North West province is currently experiencing a serious spike in coronavirus cases since last week, an average of 300 cases per day is a huge sign of concern for our province. In the last 24 hours we recorded a total of 426 new positive cases and this give us 6810 active cases,” he said in a statement.
He said since the beginning of June, the province has been recording over 400 cases daily.
Bojanala and Dr Kenneth Kaunda districts were hard-hit by the recent resurgence of positive cases.
“These recent developments do not augur well for the provincial health system. The Klerksdorp/Tshepong hospital sounded an alarm yesterday [Sunday] with an increasing number of hospitalisation for coronavirus cases in the district.
“This raises a grave concern for the provincial health system as it points to a potential crisis if our communities do not take preventative measures to curb the spread of infections.
“We therefore urge our communities to assist us to protect our fragile system by adhering to preventative measures,” Sambatha said.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay