St Augustine's, Kingsway Hospital reopens following COVID-19 outbreaks
KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu says they had to make sure rigorous measures were put in place before giving Netcare Hospitals: St Augustine's and Kingsway the green light to reopen.
Both facilities reopen on Monday - after they were shut in April following a COVID-19 outbreak among healthcare workers and patients.
Last month, more than 71 health care workers tested positive for COVID-19 at St Augustine's Hospital - seven patients at the hospital who were initially admitted at the dialysis centre also contracted the virus.
At least 20 people contracted the virus at Kingsway.
"Why is it that it has taken us more than a month to reopen?" Simelane-Zulu questions. "Its because we were not convinced that they did what they were supposed to do."
"They had to convince us that they have done it correctly - which includes our teams going to the facilities looking at the things they say they had implemented. It was only then we could allow them to reopen."
She says their investigation into alleged negligence by management will continue.
"Right now [whether] we think they were negligent or not is a different matter altogether. That's where the in-depth investigations come in."
Netcare says they have boosted their disinfection and decontamination at both hospitals to prepare for the reopening.
"Preparations for both the hospitals to reopen on Monday, 11 May 2020 are currently underway. Last week, the hospitals had already further enhanced their disinfecting and decontaminating programmes of all the facilities on their premises.
"Doctors at Netcare St Augustine's and Netcare Kingsway hospitals will also again be consulting from their rooms as from Monday," says regional director coastal of Netcare hospitals, Craig Murphy.
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