As virus cases surge, South Africa’s commercial hub adds beds
JOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Gauteng province, which includes the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria, will add more than 2,000 hospital beds this month and is considering localized lockdowns and curbs on alcohol as the number of coronavirus cases surge.
The country’s most populous province and commercial hub has recorded about 3,000 new infections a day in the past two weeks, the highest number nationwide, and both hospitalizations and the mortality rate have increased “dramatically,” David Makhura, the province’s premier, said at a briefing Thursday. Currently 144 patients require ventilators in the region, up from just four a month ago.
“The month of July is going to be a very difficult month,” Makhura said. “We are doing everything we can to speed up the addition of beds. The system is feeling the stress.”
Source: iol.co.za
