COVID-19 hits Netcare's Kingsway Hospital
The Netcare Group says Kingsway Hospital in Amanzimtoti will not be accepting new patients until further notice.
This after a patient there tested positive for the coronavirus.
At this stage, it's not clear how many patients and medical staff have been affected.
Newswatch understands that management has traced the exposure to a patient who was admitted to the hospital on 4 April.
Netcare's Regional Director, Craig Murphy said the patient came to the hospital with a suspected stroke and had shown no symptoms of the coronavirus.
Murphy said in a statement that after being admitted, they were told that the patient had been treated by a specialist doctor, days earlier, for flu-like symptoms.
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A test was conducted, and the patient was placed in isolation.
Management received the results a week ago, which confirmed that the patient had COVID-19.
Murphy said Kingsway's radiology department has since been closed and the entire hospital's being cleaned and decontaminated.
They're also conducting mass screening and testing of healthcare workers and patients who may have been exposed.
Mandla Shabangu who's with nursing union, DENOSA, says they understand that some staff and patients have tested positive for the virus.
"There has been a positive case, and some staff members are affected. We can confirm that the testing of those who interacted with the patients started yesterday."
This is the second Netcare hospital to be affected by the outbreak.
At Durban's St Augustine's Hospital 66 people, of whom 48 are healthcare workers, tested positive for the virus last week.
