A doctor walks through a ward in a hospital.
- Gauteng has recorded more than 189 000 cases as of Friday.
- 4 749 people who tested positive in the province are still in hospital.
- The provincial health department has signed a memorandum of understanding with private hospitals to assist with beds at a standard fee.
The Gauteng Department of Health says it is seeing a “significant drop in daily new admissions for Covid-19 in hospitals”.
According to the department, the highest number of admissions was recorded in mid-July – the highest daily new admission surpassing 320 on 16 July.
As of Friday, the province had recorded 189 159 cases and 2 524 deaths, while 135 485 people had recovered.
“Out of a total of 91 966 contacts traced [individuals who were in contact with people who tested positive for Covid-19], 70 599 people have completed the 10-day monitoring period with no symptoms reported and therefore they are de-isolated,” department’s spokesperson, Kwara Kekana, said in a statement.
A total of 4 749 remain hospitalised at public and private healthcare facilities.
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The Johannesburg district continues to have the highest number of infections with 76 763, followed by Ekurhuleni with 42 304.
The department said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with private hospitals to regulate fees for health care, which means hospitals would charge it a standard fee per day for a patient at an agreed rate.
“It is thus the responsibility of private hospitals to ensure continuity of supplies as the fee that the department will pay is inclusive. The department has the responsibility to ensure supplies in public hospitals.
“The current number of recoveries and the decline in daily new admissions is thus far greatly encouraging.”
