SATURDAY PROFILE | Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku: 'I am sometimes hopeless about the situation' | News24

In the week that Gauteng became the new hotspot of the coronavirus, Health MEC Bandile Masuku said he sometimes grows overwhelmed by the crisis, wants stricter lockdown regulations in the province, and that people should expect more death in the weeks ahead. .

Like there is nothing more we can do?" I ask Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku at the start of our telephonic interview.

In the weeks ahead, Masuku says people should expect the Gauteng death rate - currently "quite low" at around 2% of cases - to increase.

He says provincial hospitals are set to reach full capacity by next week, which is when field hospitals will start taking patients in large numbers. 

But Masuku is adamant that some regulations from lockdown Level 5 should still apply, such as the 20:00 curfew, movement between provinces, and a restriction on alcohol sales, which he says has led to an increase in trauma cases at public hospitals. 

He says even stricter regulations will only be triggered when the province goes into "bigger trouble", after hospital bed capacity has been reached. 

The National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) is set to have a meeting in the afternoon to discuss stricter lockdown regulations for the province, Masuku says.  

Masuku says he is, however, not concerned that the Gauteng health system will reach capacity, explaining that additional capacity has been introduced at more than 20 hospitals in the province - aside from standalone facilities built, such as Nasrec. 

But Masuku admits the number of cases in the province is ahead by "around 2 000 or so", compared to what the models predicted at the start of the pandemic. 

The province no longer tests the general public; they are limited to healthcare workers and people who are hospitalised

"One thing the models have been correct [about] is when we will start to run out of beds, which is the second part of July, which is where the field hospitals will be able to cater," Masuku says. 

He worked at several hospitals in Gauteng, including Pholosong Hospital, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital

He says talks with his wife, City of Johannesburg MMC Loyiso Masuku, in the morning keep him mentally sane during the day. 

"Plans are in place for the day that happens, the government will go on and we will keep on serving our people," Masuku says.