Acting Minister of Health Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane made the announcement during a press briefing on Friday, where she updated the country on efforts by the department to curb the spread of Covid-19.

"Yesterday (Thursday), after the conversation with the president, the Minister of Defence, and the Military Veterans, we requested additional capacity to assist Gauteng in terms of the military health that has moved into the province to assist us swiftly.

“I want to thank the minister, together with the SANDF who responded swiftly when we called them yesterday afternoon to say please come and help us in Gauteng.

“What this will do is to be able to release the capacity of the beds that have been held because there was no human capital. So they will assist us in moving into the hospitals, in areas where we need health care practitioners to assist us.”

The military health services will be deployed on Friday. 

It will also assist the department with mass testing and screening as well as contact tracing in communities.

On Thursday, the country recorded 11 767 new cases, with Gauteng accounting for 64% of the new infections. 

A total of 7 502 new cases were recorded in Gauteng bringing the total cases in the province to 529 873.

Jacaranda News