The Eastern Cape Health Department on Tuesday received a field hospital in Nelson Mandela Bay which was constructed by Volkswagen Group South Africa.
The more than R100m investment into a facility owned by VWSA was funded by the German government and would provide 1 485 beds during phase one and more than 3 000 beds on completion.
It was named the Rev. Dr Elizabeth Mamimsa Chabula-Nxiweni Hospital, after the well-known PE health practitioner, and will be staffed and operated by the Provincial Health Department.
Speaking at the hand-over, Eastern Cape Premier Lubabalo Mabuyane said the investment into the facility came at the right time.
He said as of Monday, the province had recorded 16 895 Covid19 cases, with Nelson Mandela Bay the “provincial epicentre”.
Premier Mabuyane said with 2500 active cases “this field hospital is at the right place.”
Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, delivered the keynote address and praised the collaboration between the two nations “to save humanity”.
However, in his address Minister Mkhize said as the pandemic is going to be with us for years, “we have to rely on social behavioural change to beat this virus”.
He once more called on South Africans to take personal responsibility and wear masks in public, practice social distancing and good hygiene.
The Health Minister added that by clearing the testing backlog in the province, the Eastern Cape can move ahead of the surge.
He said he would be also reinforcing the team in the Eastern Cape by bringing in another senior high-ranking official to help tighten up the response in the province.
"The reality being is that we need much tighter machinery in the Eastern Cape and this particular contribution adds a lot at that level," he said.
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Meanwhile, VWSA’s support does not end with the hand-over of the facility.
The company will also be providing assistance with the sourcing of the necessary equipment and improving the process flow of testing, all with the goal of doubling the current laboratory daily average output of 1 500 tests to more than 3 000 tests.
“We have learned that collaboration is key when facing an unprecedented threat such as Covid19,” said VWSA chairperson and MD Thomas Schaefer.
“This pandemic requires us to act decisively and with speed. VWSA has answered this call by completing and delivering phase 1 of the medical facility at a time when it is desperately needed by our Metro which is currently experiencing an alarming increase in infections,” he said.
Dr Gerd Muller, the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, which provided the funding, said he was “pleased that the temporary hospital in Port Elizabeth opened today.”
