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The Democratic Alliance (DA) is concerned by the latest figures surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic in the Free State. In a recent interview on eNCA, Prof Salim Abdool Karim, co-director of the Covid-19 Ministerial Advisory Council, stated that since September 2020 there had been a slow and steady increase in the overall Covid-19 cases nationally. More worrying, however, is the fact that the province with the highest contribution of new cases is the Free State.

At the height of the pandemic, in July this year, Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and the Free State were amongst the worst hit by the Coronavirus pandemic. On 22 September 2020, the DA stated in a press release that the Free State has the highest number of active cases nationally at 14 044. A month on and the Free State had the second highest number of active cases nationally at 12 873.

At this point, the DA expressed its concerns about the low recovery rate in the Free State, which at 22 September 2020, was hovering around the 65% mark. The DA then submitted questions to the Free State MEC for Health, Montseng Tsiu, requesting a detailed breakdown and analysis of why the province boasts this low recovery rate, as well as a detailed overview of Covid-19 preparations in the Free State.

The provincial government’s response to the Covid pandemic has been lethargic and uncoordinated, Furthermore, the MEC for Health has been defensive and obstructive to the DA’s legitimate questions around government’s poor management of the pandemic.

According to recent replies received from the MEC for Health to DA questions in the Free State Legislature, the Free State experienced a sudden rapid increase in the number of new cases during the month of July 2020. In her reply she stated that healthcare workers, mainly those directly involved with assisting Covid-19 patients, had contracted the Coronavirus. This meant that healthcare workers and those with whom they came into direct contact had to self-isolate and go into quarantine. The MEC for Health cited this reason as having had a serious impact on the ability of the response time of the Free State’s healthcare services to engage with new cases in order to undergo the required contact tracing and their ability to effectively manage the overall recovery rate.

The DA welcomes the rollout of additional healthcare capacity across the Free State in early October 2020. This will enable healthcare workers to fast track case investigations and ensure that officials are deployed where required across the province.

Despite the increase in healthcare capacity in the province, the DA remains concerned at the low recovery rate in the Free State which according to the latest figures is around 74%. This is well off the national recovery rate which sits around 90%. It is therefore critical that the Department of Health in the Free State remains resilient and employs the necessary safeguards to prevent the further spread of the Coronavirus.

The DA will continue to investigate the state of our healthcare facilities across the province to ensure that Free Staters receive access to the healthcare services they deserve.

The DA would like to wish Premier Sisi Ntombela and MEC for Health, Montseng Tsiu, a speedy recovery after contracting the Coronavirus.

Issued by DA