Johannesburg - The Gauteng Government has no intention of activating field hospitals as the third wave of Covid-19 threatens to become a tsunami engulfing Gauteng. Instead, the provincial Department of Health has said it would focus on adding permanent beds at existing hospitals.
The Nasrec field hospital was commissioned during the first and second waves of the pandemic to alleviate the pressure on Johannesburg hospitals and clinics, but was decommissioned in February and its equipment was removed.
Johannesburg’s iconic FNB stadium, which had also been earmarked as a field hospital will not be utilised as such either.
The Premier’s office yesterday confirmed to the Saturday Star that it had no intention of reactivating the Nasrec field hospital, despite rumours surfacing this week that Premier David Makhura had approved the reactivation.
“When needs be, the reopening of the Nasrec field hospital will be an option, it isn’t now however,” said Makhura’s spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga.
South Africa is in the grip of the third wave of Covid-19. More than 16 078 new Covid-19 cases had been identified in South Africa over the last 24-hour reporting cycle, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 1877143. The increase represents a 24.5% positivity rate.
Gauteng accounts for 9521 of the new cases, more than half of the country’s total.
Experts are deeply concerned about the high number of infections, with a large number of those cases detected in Gauteng.
“For the last two weeks, it has been increasingly difficult to find a hospital bed, both private or public, in Gauteng,” said local GP Sheri Fanaroff, who is also a member of the Gauteng General Practitioners Collaboration.
“Ambulances wait with sick patients in parking lots outside the hospitals, trying to get a space for the patient in the casualty.
“People struggling to breathe queue up outside casualty hoping to get in to get some oxygen. And these are people who have already been treated at home by their doctors, but have progressed past the point where home treatment can help them.”
On Thursday, Gauteng Premier David Makhura announced that parts of the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital which were untouched by the recent fire there will be re-opened as soon as this weekend to alleviate the pressure on state hospitals.
Last year, local architects Boogertman and Partners sent a proposal to the government with plans to convert the FNB Stadium into a state-of-the-art field hospital with a minimum of 1500 beds, accommodating more than 4 500 medical practitioners and patients a day at full capacity.
But despite recent reports that provincial hospitals were close to breaking point, there was no sign that the FNB Stadium would be used to relieve the pressure.
“We have not been approached with a request and/or proposal to make the FNB Stadium available for purposes of a field hospital,” said Bertie Grobbelaar, CEO of Stadium Management South Africa, which manages the stadium.
The Gauteng Department of Health said its priority had always been to add more permanent beds to hospitals in the province, as this was a long term investment.
“In addition to the newly built infrastructure in areas such Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Jubilee Hospital and Bronkhorstspruit Hospital, wards and beds are always repurposed based on the demands of the pandemic at the time,” said Gauteng Health spokesperson Kwara Kekana.
The decision to close the Nasrec Field Hospital had been based on scientific, clinical, and statistical analysis, the department said.
“We have always been guided by science through the modelling team and by projections from the WHO in our comprehensive health response to the pandemic,” Gauteng MEC for Health Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi had told media following the closure.
“The closure of Nasrec Field Hospital will not have a major impact in the treatment of Covid-19 patients. The Gauteng Department of Health now has the capacity to operationalise 4 265 functional beds through its hospital infrastructure should the need arise,” added Mokgethi.
The department this week said it was confident of coping with the pressure during the third wave.
“Our system might be under pressure, but we still have the will and enough capacity to cope with the demand.
“We are adding more healthcare personnel to make sure more available beds are fully functional,” said Mokgethi, adding that the SANDF had also deployed its medical personnel to boost capacity in the province.
“We have dedicated Covid-19 functional beds across the province supported by a live electronic Covid-19 Bed Management Dashboard which we use to monitor the utilisation of beds across the province.”
Gauteng Health had also activated resurgence plans across its five districts to minimise the impact of the third wave, according to Mokgethi.
South Africa’s largest provider of private healthcare, Netcare said while their facilities in Gauteng remained under pressure, they were yet to see a surge in Covid-19 admissions.
“Although the situation remains fluid, at present our facilities in Gauteng are under pressure, while Netcare facilities in all other provinces remain on high alert, but for now we have not yet seen a surge in Covid-19 admissions,” said Jacques du Plessis, managing director of Netcare’s hospital division.
Du Plessis said they are monitoring the situation in Gauteng carefully.
“With our experience of the first and second waves, Netcare hospitals are well equipped and can quickly maximise capacity with a strong emphasis on safety, to keep healthcare services operating as effectively and efficiently as possible for all patients.”
While the Department of Health is confident of coping with the pressure in the third wave, doctors in the province claimed that patients were battling to find hospital beds.
Fanaroff said she had been inundated with Covid-19 patients at her practice in the past few weeks.
“In my very small practice, I am currently managing dozens of patients at home who are infected with Covid-19,” said Fanaroff.
“Some of these are in family groups, where everyone at home is sick. The strain of virus we are seeing is extremely contagious and jumping from one person to the next in a few days.”
“Of these patients at home, several are on home oxygen, many are on strong medications like cortisone and anticoagulants, and some have needed hospital admission. (And for the record, some of these patients have been on Ivermectin, and equally, some have not).
“Several of my current Covid patients have had one dose of Pfizer vaccine. Of these, two have Covid pneumonia, demonstrating that one vaccine dose three weeks ago is not yet effective.
“Three of my patients had had a Johnson and Johnson vaccine over a month ago, but thankfully had relatively mild illness.”
She said it had also been a struggle finding oxygen for her patients.
“This week for the first time, it has been a struggle to find enough oxygen for patients needing it at home.
“The major oxygen suppliers now have waiting lists. Most of the ‘hospital at home’ management and nursing services are at capacity.
“I have spent hours on some days phoning around to hospitals begging for beds for patients who need it, only to be told that there are no high care or ICU beds in Gauteng.”
“GPs are forced to manage patients at home who fit the criteria for hospital admission. We are told to send our patients via casualty where they will be ‘triaged’ so that the most deserving ones who need it most will get a bed.
“We don’t want to do this as we know our patients will spend hours in casualty and possibly be sent home.”