Thread by @DrZweliMkhize

#ZweliMkhize: The surge is upon us. We are here to see the level of preparations. Gauteng has surged to be the province with the highest number. This is not surprising. We have to be vigilant.#TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: There is going to be lots of pressure on hospitals and beds. The pattern taken by the spread of the disease has meant we have had to make some changes to our strategy.#TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: Triage centres which are marquees allow us to seperate #COVID19 positive patients from those who are negative.
#TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: Most of the patients will be asked to go to the tent. The public need to understand this is a way of assessing their #COVID19 status. #TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: We have a team looking at adding 2000 additional beds to field hospitals in Gauteng.#TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: The team is also working on oxygen points. Nasrec will have 1000 oxygen points. We will also increase the number of ventilators. #TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: The advent of Dexamethasone is part of our protocols now. Its is safe and useful in treatment.#TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: The lockdown couldn’t stop person to person transmission.Numbers will increase as people are moving more freely now. It gave us as much benefit as it could. The surge is coming as expected. It is happening at a lower rate than what was predicted.#TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: We are acknowledging that we have to co-exist with #COVID19. We have to take lessons from other countries #TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: Social behaviour is fundamental in fighting #COVID19. We call on our communities to work together to encourage behavioural change. It is important that screening and sanitisation continue on all our transport routes #TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: We need the support of our citizens. We must focus and work together. To walk around without a mask is dangerous to ourselves and the people around us #TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: We need to find a way to balance re-opening our economy and saving our people. We are focusing on bed capacity ans saving lives. We can still make sure that we can contain this virus. #TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize; It is important to support one another. We must also go all out to treat those who are infected. We can behave in a manner that can reduce the spread. #TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: We want to pay tribute to our health workers who have braved it all and went out to save our nation. We assure you that we will make sure that you are protected. #TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: I will be distributing gear from the solidarity fund to all the provinces. We will work with the unions to oversee the distribution and quality of our stock. #TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: Your dedication and resilience is an inspiration to South Africans. We salute you as our heroes. #TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: We convey our condolences to those who have lost loved ones. We share in your grief.#TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: We have been informed of the shotage of staff and we will be deploying additional staff from nursing agencies to complement staff. #TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: The demand for tests is always increasing. We have conducted two million tests. We have improved the backlog significantly. We should not underplay the hardwork done by laboratory staff.#TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: The EC scooters- the provincial government informed us they were addressing the issue of reaching rural areas. They looked at a mechanism to support health workers. These are also being used in Rwanda and Tanzania. Support for rural area nurses is important.

#ZweliMkhize: We can only assess its success once its in use. The issues of procurement is in the hands of the provincial government. The question was whether the motorcycles meet that standards of ambulances and the answer is no. #TshwaneVisit

#ZweliMkhize: I was briefed in what the province was doing. It is well within their rights to address their challenges.#TshwaneVisit