Question NW805 to the Minister of Health
04 June 2020 - NW805
Hlengwa, Ms MD to ask the Minister of Health
(1)What are the costs per day for each person who is placed under quarantine by the State; (2) whether he has found that the process of quarantine may be open to corruption; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. The State’s position has always been to first utilise state-owned facilities before private facilities are to be utilised and thus, the cost per person per day would differ based on facility availability, type of facility and ownership.
In State-owned facilities the costs per day relate to the operationalisation of these sites. Here costs related to provision of food, clinical services, cleaning and waste management costs. On average the costs for somebody in a state-owned facility is R600 per person per day. This excludes laundry, medical waste removal and testing.
For Private-owned facilities the operational costs are included in the rate negotiated with the facilities and excludes all clinical services. The rate is negotiated by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) for each site. The Provincial Department of Health provides the training, PPE and clinical services for these. These costs are carried by the Department of Health.
(2) The National Department of Health (NDoH) does not tolerate or entertain corruption, and any allegations to this extent need to be reported to the anti-corruption helpline. It also needs to be noted that the NDoH does not get involved in any contractual or payment arrangements to any private facilities related to quarantine or isolation for COVID-19, unless under exceptional circumstances. The DPWI is solely responsible for that.
State-owned facilities are operationalised by the DoH in order to ensure that we operate quarantine facilities as cost effectively as possible and advocate the use of state-owned facilities prior to using private facilities.
END.