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Eastern Cape Premier, Lubabalo Mabuyane, said the provincial government is steaming ahead with the provision of health infrastructure upgrades at institutions across the province.
He said 86 refurbishment projects across all six Districts and the two Metros are underway with a combined value of R594.7 million that would guarantee 2 458 Covid-19 beds.
Mabuyane was speaking during his weekly Covid19 media briefing on Tuesday at Sir Henry Elliott Hospital in Mthatha, one of the facilities earmarked for refurbishment.
"To perform this important task, we consciously awarded 93 contracts to EC based contractors for the refurbishment of 67 health facilities across the province. By doing this we are fulfilling our stated commitment of affirming local suppliers using our procurement muscle," he said.
To date, 27 healthcare infrastructure projects with a value of R43.7 million have been completed, providing 706 Covid-19 isolation beds across the province.
The Premier said vacancies at health institutions were also being filled.
"Eight vacant critical SMS posts have been filled in the Department to stabilise leadership both at Head Office and Districts with a further 17 posts already advertised and in the selection pipeline," Mabuyane said.
"With all this leadership personnel in our hospitals and Districts we do not anticipate to hear horrific stories of patients who are left unattended and who are fed unhealthy meals," he added.
Meanwhile, the Premier said there has been a steady increase in the number of people recovering from Covid19 infections with the rate of recovery at 94%.
"All Districts of our province and the two metros have recovery rates above 90 %. There has been a steady decline in active cases from about 15 000 on the 8th of July to 2627 on the 16th of August."
However, he lamented the rate of fatalities which saw 70 people passing away in the past 24 hours.
