Rustenburg - All confirmed Covid-19 patients and their contacts in North West will be placed under the supervision of the provincial health department to avoid further spread of the virus, health MEC Madoda Samabatha said.
The decision was made after a Covid-19 patient from Bloemhof could not be found at home and was tracked to a farm in Welkom, in the Free State province.
"The person is now under the care of the department," Samabatha said.
"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," he said.
Two mine hospitals - Westvaal in Orkney and Duff Scott in Stilfontein - have been earmarked as overflow facilities should Klerksdorp Hospital receive more Covid-19 patients.
Klerksdorp Hospital is the only designated Covid-19 hospital in the North West.
"We have done inspections on additional bed capacity. In the programme for fighting Covid-19, each province has to have additional bed capacity in case our facilities were to be 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 Bojanala Platinum District where most positive cases for Covid-19 have been confirmed thus far," he said.
North West has 11 confirmed Covid-19 cases with no deaths thus far. Seven of the positive cases are in the Bojanala District, two in the Dr Kenneth Kauda District, while Ngaka Modiri Moleman and Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District each has one case.
North West premier Job Mokgoro has launched the roll out of the screening, testing and contact tracing programme in Motswedi, near Zeerust.
The provincial command council decided to take the roll out to Motswedi village because of a 79-year-old Botswana citizen who passed away recently in Botswana from Covid-19.
She had attended a funeral in Motswedi, and there was an urgent need for the screening, testing and tracing of any person who might have come into contact with her, said the provincial government.
The roll out of the programme will take place on Tuesday in Bojanala District for the Rustenburg area.