Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa officially opened the 850 intermediate care bed temporary CTICC 1 hospital.
Welcoming Ramaphosa on Friday, Premier Alan Winde told the president the facility was the biggest dedicated Covid-19 hospital in Africa.
Ramaphosa toured the facility which Winde said would start admitting patients on Monday, June 8.
Over the past week, staff have been on-site for orientation. The president's tour follows oversight visits to Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape to evaluate the fight against Covid-19.
Ramaphosa received a presentation on the Western Cape Province’s Covid-19 response strategy, and it will culminate in a visit to the Red Dot Health Staff Transport Operations.
Said Winde: “The intermediate care beds will cater for patients, presenting with milder clinical signs who need hospitalization and treatment including administration of oxygen.”
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19| President @CyrilRamaphosa arrives at the @CTICC_Official where he is received by Western Cape Premier @AlanWinde. The President is spending the day in the Western Cape, where he will be assessing the provincial response to the COVID-19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/WedIsCitYQ
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA)
The CTICC will not provide care for patients with more severe clinical signs, which will require intensive care treatment.
When it was announced that the venue would be a temporary hospital, the Western Cape government said: “The agreement between the province and the CTICC allows the Western Cape government to make use of the CTICC 1 building immediately up until September 7, with an option to extend this on a month-to-month basis until the end of the year.
“The CTICC has agreed to waive the hire cost of the venue, as part of its contribution to the fight against coronavirus. The temporary infrastructure build, operating and catering costs for the initial hire period will total approximately R47 million.
“This amount excludes the costs that the Department of Health will incur in providing clinical equipment, oxygen, medication and temporary staff for the temporary hospital."
We welcome the President to the Western Cape 🇿🇦 https://t.co/CxQkYE5TJN
— Premier Alan Winde (@alanwinde) June 5, 2020
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/CyrilRamaphosa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CyrilRamaphosaas well our National Ministers in the Western Cape. We are currently busy with our cabinet meeting to present the Western Cape’s response to COVID-19. 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/QvrJEbbVgr
— Premier Alan Winde (@alanwinde)
Meanwhile, on Thursday the provincial cabinet gave the go-ahead to explore the creation of an additional 800 beds, including the staff to attend to those beds, at CTICC 2.
Winde said: “This will give us a cumulative total of 2 227 additional intermediate beds in the system.”
Ramaphosa was originally scheduled to visit on May 15, but after Winde went into self-quarantine two days earlier, following the death from Covid-19 of eNCA cameraman Lungile Tom, with whom he had been in close contact with, he postponed the trip.