Staff Reporter
Free State Health MEC Montseng Tsiu is expected to officially open a 79-bed COVID-19 surge facility at Pelonomi Hospital on Friday afternoon.
A surge facility is designed to provide increased medical evaluation and care during events or incidents that exceed the limits of the normal medical infrastructure of an affected community.
The COVID-19 surge facility is fully equipped to deal with any eventuality of COVID-19-related needs for medical care.
It is equipped with oxygen, medicine and the appropriate personal protective equipment.
“Our COVID-19 outbreak response strategy is multi-fold – it’s based on scientific evidence, adequately proactive and intentional,” Tsiu said on the eve of the event.
“We are optimistic that we shall overcome (the disease) because we do not only pray for the best but we also prepare for the worst,” she said.
The opening of the surge unit follows the official launch last week of a similar facility at the Universitas Academic Hospital which has 163 beds.
“We want to be adequately prepared to respond holistically to any volumes and types of demand for healthcare service as we enter the surge period which was projected by the COVID-19 scientific modellers,” Tsiu said.
“We are also preparing for the second wave of the virus . . . we are now at that point where we can say we have played our part to strengthen the healthcare service to respond to all healthcare needs including COVID-19.”
The Free State now has about 33 163 confirmed cases of the disease with 19 548 recoveries.
At least 542 people are said to have succumbed to COVID-19.