Cape Town - The Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital is the latest hospital to restrict hospital visits as Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the province.
President Cyril Ramaphosa tightened restrictions and moved the country to alert level three in a bid to fight the resurgence of infections.
Only one person will be allowed to visit a patient now in the children’s hospital and that person cannot be swopped nor rotated during the third wave.
“These changes will help us protect our patients, their caregivers and our staff during the third wave,” explained Red Cross spokesperson Dwayne Evans.
Premier Alan Winde recently announced last week that hospitals have started restricting visits and escorts in the province.
“While we fully understand that visitors and escorts play a significant role in the well-being of patients, we also need to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in our hospitals to save lives. These restrictions will be reviewed as soon as the third wave is over,” said Winde.
The province has 12 695 active cases, hospitalisation stands at 1284, of which 301 are in high care or ICU. The province today also started its vaccination programme on teachers. The programme is expected to run for two weeks.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said at the weekend the department was hoping to get 582 000 staff at public and private schools vaccinated between Wednesday and July 8. The vaccinations are not taking place in schools but at vaccination sites.
Weekend Argus