Cape Town – The North West Department of Health has found the coronavirus patient who went missing from his home after he was found to have contracted the virus.
According to the department, the search for the patient ensued after he could not be found at his home in Bloemhof. North West Health MEC Madoda Sambatha said he was tracked down to a farm in Welkom in the Free State.
“The person is now under the care of the department. We should all the time know where COVID-19 positive people and their contacts are to prevent further spread.
"That way, we will be able to monitor their prognosis and make appropriate decisions,” Sambatha said.
Following the incident, Sambatha said, the department had decided to place all Covid-19 confirmed patients and their contacts in the province under its supervision to avoid the further spread of the virus.
Of the 1 585 positive cases of Covid-19, North West has 11 confirmed cases to date.
Sambatha also indicated that he and his agriculture counterpart in the province, Desbo Mohono, had inspected two mine hospitals in the Matlosana area for their readiness to receive state patients should the need for hospitalisation arise.
He said the two hospitals, Westvaal in Orkney and Duff Scott in Stillfontein, have been earmarked as overflow facilities should Klerksdorp Hospital be overwhelmed by numbers. Klerksdorp Hospital is the only designated Covid-19 hospital in the North West.
“We have done an inspection on additional bed capacity. In the programme of fighting Covid-19, each province has to have additional bed capacity in case our facilities are overwhelmed like what is happening in affected countries globally.
"The facilities we inspected are ready to be accessed and utilised should the need arise. We are looking for another facility, this time in the Bojanala Platinum District, where most positive cases for Covid-19 have been confirmed thus far,’’ Sambatha added.