Goodwood
Residents and Ratepayers’ Association chairperson Faizel Petersen has thanked the
provincial head of health, Dr Keith Cloete, the department of health and the
Western Cape Government on the opening of the Hospital of Hope.
President Cyril
Ramaphosa visited Cape Town today to check the state of readiness in the province
for the expected surge in coronavirus cases. Â
The city is the
epicentre of the outbreak in South Africa and the Western Cape accounts for 66%
of all infections in the country.
Dr Cloete who
attended the guided tour, said the province has 27 006 cases and 651 deaths.
On his tour,
President Ramaphosa first visited the Cape Town International Convention Centre
(CTICC) where he officially opened the Hospital of Hope.
“This is a very
important moment in our fight against the coronavirus. A time to be creative,
innovative and be able to transform a public facility usually used for
conferences, exhibitions and festivals into a healthcare centre named
Hospital of Hope,” he said.
Work began on
the field hospital early in May. Medical staff underwent orientation at the facility
this week and patients will be admitted from tomorrow.
Western Cape
Premier Alan Winde said the field hospital has 862 beds.
Mayor Dan Plato said the CTICC has been an important
part of Cape Town’s economy through the hosting of major local and
international events while creating thousands of jobs. However, its greatest –
and most important – use appears to be in the coming weeks.
The temporary infrastructure build, operating and catering costs for the
initial hire period will total about R47 million. This excludes the costs that
the Department of Health incurs in providing clinical equipment, oxygen,
medication and staff for the temporary hospital.
President Ramaphosa
is also scheduled to visit the Red Dot Taxi operating service that had
transported around 6 000 healthcare workers since its inception in May https://www.northernnews.co.za/news/red-dot-taxi-service-to-ferry-health-care-staff-to-work-and-covid-19-patients-to-quarantine-48130095.
Dr Cloete said that
the province’s intensive care unit (ICU) mortality rate was at 66% and it was
18% in the general ward section. “We have established a pattern of a five-day general
ward average length of stay, and 8 to 10-day critical care length of stay. It
is a little bit longer if you look at people who are currently in ICU, so we
are giving you the data of everybody that is either deceased or have been discharged.”