​Thembisa Shologu
Gauteng Premier, David Makhura has expressed relief in the decreasing number of COVID-19 patients admitted in Gauteng hospitals indicating that government's efforts to save lives were bearing positive results.
Addressing the media at the weekly Gauteng COVID-19 Command Council briefing in Ormonde Johannesburg on Thursday 13 August, , Premier Makhura warned that even with the good progress made so far, it was not yet time for government to let its guard down.
"The continued decrease in the number of new positive cases per week and a significant increase in recoveries is an indication that we are making good progress in the fight against the pandemic. There is still a large number of people who are vulnerable to being infected.
"We are concerned about the 40-89 age group and people with comorbidities who make up the majority of the mortality rate," Makhura said.
Currently, 4 091 patients are admitted in hospital with 1 145 in ICU and High care and 2946 in the General Ward.
"There has been a significant decline in the daily new hospital admissions.  The highest number of hospital admissions was recorded in the middle of July.
"The highest recorded daily new admissions were over 320 with the total number of admitted patients being 7193 and 1 863 patients on oxygen on 22 July," he said.
Premier Makhura has also welcomed the deployment of 1051 members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) deployed in the province to boost Gauteng government's efforts to contain the spread of the virus.
"The members of the SANDF are providing support in terms of screening and testing, data capturing, cleaning in hospitals and minor construction work.
"We continue to increase our health capacity with our infrastructure programme and personnel capacity. The improvement in the infrastructure is a long-term investment in our health system," said the Premier.
Makhura further gave an update on the multimillion-rand contract to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) by the Gauteng health department.
"The SIU is continuing with its investigations and we will give an update as and when we receive reports, meaning all projects including infrastructure and food relief are being investigated.
"We will publish a list of companies that were appointed to provide goods and services in support of our response to our COVID-19 pandemic," added Premier Makura. ​