77 St Augustine's employees recover from COVID-19
Seventy-seven of the 80 staff members who contracted COVID-19 inside the Netcare St Augustine's Hospital in Berea during a mass outbreak have completely recovered from the virus.
The outbreak led to a complete shutdown in April for decontamination, but the facility has since reopened.
Netcare's Regional Director, Craig Murphy made the comments just a week after a UKZN lead investigation found that approximately 140 people were infected from the hospital's outbreak while 15 patients died.
He says the hospital has also been in touch with the families of those who died.
"It should be put into context that the loss of any life is one life too many, so we mourn every loss of the disease. It is absolutely tragic.
"Each of the patients that passed away, the average age for that grouping was 73, and they had multiple underlying conditions which as indicated by the Minister of Health in his press releases have unfortunately contributed to the fatality rate of patients that are infected with COVID-19."
READ: South Africa's COVID-19 death toll increases to 542
Murphy says the hospital has intensified their screening processes and has already started implementing the report's recommendations.
"Included on the report were 22 recommendations, some of them had already been implemented in the hospital and were in place, others needed to be enhanced. And there were some that were implemented following the guidelines."
