Gauteng Premier David Makhura says with the province being the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa it has put a huge burden on the Gauteng government.
Gauteng has the most number of Coronavirus cases in the country with 782 infections and three deaths.
Makhura was speaking at the Gauteng command council briefing on Thursday afternoon where he announced that 90% of people that they were tracking have now been located and tested.
Makhura says Gauteng constitutes 42% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa.
“We must lead the fight against this invisible enemy, and we have to work together to save lives and contain the spread and impact of COVID-19. The Provincial Government has been working in partnership with all municipalities and various sectors of society to enforce the lockdown measures and mitigate the negative impact on the most vulnerable sections of our population.”
Makhura says a total of 8 005 Community Health Workers (CHWs) and 607 health professionals have been trained to trace contacts and conduct screening and testing.
“We have enhanced our capacity to trace contacts using technology and have traced 90% of all contacts. This is important in order to contain the spread of COVID-19. We have also introduced a self-screening feature on the Gauteng Department of Health’s Mpilo App, to ensure a seamless and easy screening by the public at their own convenience.”
Makhura says the province also has adequate supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers and will continue to procure more to meet ongoing demand.
Faizel Patel
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