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The humanitarian organisation, Gift of the Givers, said its logistics division has been hard at work transporting supplies from Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg to their Eastern Cape teams.
This, amid the resurgence of Covid19 infections in the Eastern Cape, with Nelson Mandela Bay already declared a hotspot by the government which imposed tighter restrictions in a bid to reduce the spread of the virus.
Additional restrictions could be on the cards for the Sarah Baartman District following recommendations made to the Health Minister, Dr. Zwel Mkhize, during a visit on Wednesday.
The Minister announced afterward that the country was officially experiencing a “second wave” of coronavirus infections.
Gift of the Givers founder, Dr. Imtiaaz Sooliman, said the organisation was “hard at work urgently delivering” supplies of KN95 and 3ply surgical masks, gloves, coveralls, sanitiser, thermometers, as well as other supplies to 40 hospitals in the province.
He said they had supplied Bhisho Hospital with 120 beds and mattresses, 240 pillows, and High Flow Nasal Oxygen machines.
“An infrastructure upgrade to provide accommodation for medical personnel is under consideration,” he said.
Dr. Sooliman said Settler's Hospital in Makhanda, is undergoing a R750 000 infrastructure upgrade to increase bed capacity and the facility will open on 15 December.
“An MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between the Eastern Cape Department of Health and Gift of the Givers is at an advanced stage as we prepare to fund 26 paramedics to support current staff at Livingstone Hospital and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro.”
Sooliman said the better quality N95 mask has been purchased and is on the way to the province to protect frontline Health Care Workers.
