DA calls for unhygienic conditions at Covid-19 designated Tshepong Hospital to be urgently addressed

20 April 2020

Note to Editors: Kindly find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by DA North West Spokesperson on Health and Social Development, Gavin Edwards.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in North West is appalled by the unhygienic conditions that persist at the Covid-19 designated Tshepong Hospital in Klerksdorp.

Patients suspected of contracting Covid-19 are being placed in forced isolation at the hospital for days on end while they wait for their test results while the hospital does not have clean running water. See video here.

For the last two days there has been no water at all.

The bathroom facilities are filthy and there is no sanitizer available.

Professional medical and cleaning staff do not have access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) placing themselves and patients at risk while they have free movement in and out of the facility.

We cannot allow Professional medical and cleaning staff not to have access to PPEs. We will be asking for an update from the MEC on the Department’s ability to supply PPEs at all medical facilities in the province.

Patients are being kept in an open ward, under unhygienic conditions, which risks exposure to Covid-19. The situation at the hospital is not in line with minimum standards required for a hospital.

These unhygienic conditions at the Tshepong Hospital must be addressed immediately. The DA has taken the matter up with the MEC for the Department of Health, MadodaSambatha, for his urgent action.

North West medical facilities responsible for treating Covid-19 patients should not compromise the basic human dignity of people and greater care must be taken to prevent infection amongst staff and patients.

Issued by Gavin Edwards, DA North West Spokesperson on Health and Social Development, 20 April 2020