[imagesource: Barry Christianson]

After being declared the COVID-19 epicentre in May, residents of the Western Cape knuckled down to do everything possible to curb the spread of the virus.

The province was arguably the most prepared for the rising infections heading its way, having set up a number of state-of-the-art field hospitals.

Furthermore, following the first reported case of the coronavirus in Khayelitsha, which was also the first township in South Africa to have a confirmed case, a field hospital at the Thusong Service Centre prepared for the coming storm.

The largest field hospital was the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), which was converted to provide a further 864 beds to assist in alleviating the strain on hospitals.

In June, analysts predicted that cases in the province would peak soon, and by the end of July, the curve appeared to be flattening.

Data began to show that the Western Cape had not only passed its COVID-19 peak, but the dreaded “long plateau” seemed to have given way to a steady decline in cases.

Now, according to IOL, during the weekly digital conference where the Western Cape government provides updates on the province’s coronavirus response plan, Premier Alan Winde said that the CTICC hospital will be closing its doors as infection rates and admissions decline.

“Given the capacity in our health platform, the decline of cases in the metro in particular, the expiry of the contract to use CTICC in September, and the low number of admissions at our field hospitals generally, we have taken the decision to decommission the CTICC facility,” Winde said.

“The facility which has a capacity of 864 beds currently has less than 60 admissions, and we have adequate capacity at the 330 bed Brackengate facility to accommodate patients.”

The aim is to close the facility by mid-September. Since it opened its doors it has treated 1 502 patients, discharging 95% (1 440) to date.

Brackengate field hospital, says Winde, will become the central COVID-19 “Hospital of Hope”.

The field hospital in Khayelitsha is also due to close, reports GroundUp. The decision to close it is based on data, said Dr Keith Cloete, head of the Western Cape Health Department.

Khayelitsha has seen just under 8,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases. Currently, only 206 of these are active (still sick). Cloete said that over the past week there were 73 cases, 22 admissions and 13 deaths.

For context, he explained that on 15 June, there were 5,209 cases, of which 1,800 were active. In the seven days before 15 June, there were 1,479 cases, 220 admissions and 83 deaths.

“That was at the height of what was happening in Khayelitsha,” said Cloete.

Winde explained that “the combined capacity of hospitals in the Cape Town Metro (including non-COVID-19 patients) is stable at 69%” for now.

He plans on hosting a closing event at the CTICC to thank everyone involved in keeping the field hospitals running.

“To every nurse, official, doctor, cleaner and admin clerk involved in this Hospital of Hope, I want you to know that you will all go down in history for what you have done for the people of the Western Cape. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

Both Winde and Cloete emphasised that a decline in infection rates is no reason to ease up on precautions.

Physical distancing, mask-wearing, and other preventative measures need to be adhered to if we want to keep the numbers down.

[sources:iol&groundup]