Health Minister gives KZN the thumbs up

06 August 2020

Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has heaped praise on the KZN Department of Health for managing to create capacity expeditiously, to help the province cope with the COVID - 19 epidemic.

The Minister is on a two-day visit to KZN to inspect the province's state of readiness. The Minister's tour kicked off at Edendale Hospital, where he expressed his satisfaction with the standard of the flu clinic. He then moved to Richmond Hospital, which has, within just months, been converted from a TB facility into a state-of-the-art COVID-19 hospital with a total of 95 beds for quarantine and isolation.

Briefing the media, alongside KZN Health MEC Ms Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, the Minister pleaded with all people who have symptoms of COVID-19, particularly the elderly, to immediately visit their nearest health facility, before complications set it. He also urged those who test positive to rather get themselves admitted at health facilities than self-isolate at home, saying that this is a better and much safer approach.