​Lerato Mailoane
Gauteng remains the epicentre of COVID-19 in South Africa and the Gauteng Provincial Government has set up various special sites that will help ease the pressure from health facilities and accommodate those who cannot self-isolate or quarantine at home.
One such site is the Nasrec Expo Centre, where Health MEC, Bandile Masuku conducted  a walkabout at the facility which has a bed capacity of 2300 on Tuesday, 14 April 2020 to check its state of readiness as the facility will be one of the special sites in Gauteng that will be used as a facility for both quarantining and isolating COVID-19 cases in the province.
Masuku said the first phase will have 500 beds which will be increased for ICU cases.
"We are planning for the eventuality, that at its peak, the pandemic will get very bad," said Masuku.
According to Professor Salim Abdool Karim, Chairperson - Ministerial Advisory Group on COVID-19,there are going to be thousands of people needing medical care all at the same time. They are going to need the most complicated level of care that the province can provide, and as such advised that its best to be over prepared than under prepared
The MEC said the outcomes of the lockdown has given the country a steady increase in cases instead of an exponential one. 
"We are happy the lockdown has given us a better chance of managing the spread of the pandemic and we are hoping some of the restrictions will continue throughout winter so as to further flatten the curve," added Masuku.
The Department has also updated its Mpilo App to help increase public education and awareness on COVID-19. The app also has a self-screening feature. 
The app is available on both Android and IOS. Residents are encouraged to download it.