Question NW1708 to the Minister of Health
12 May 2022 - NW1708
Mohlala, Ms MR to ask the Minister of Health
Considering the fact that there is fear that the fifth wave of the coronavirus is going to hit the Republic soon, what steps are being taken by his department to ensure that the impact of the specified wave is not as severe as previous waves?
Reply:
The department has worked with the provinces to do the following in order to ensure that the impact of Covid-19 is not as severe as the past four waves:
- Conducting the Intra-Action Review to identify the lessons learned from the previous waves and to develop plans to identified close the gaps, while also enhancing those areas that the department did well.
- The development of the resurgence plans which is based on the lessons learned from the four waves.
- The plan is working on the Integration of Covid-19 into the health system, so that it must be managed as part of the mainstream.
- The department is encouraging the South African Public to get vaccinated, as the best barrier to slowing down the impact of the pandemic while also minimising the severity in the event of infections.
- Integrating the vaccine into the PHC services, to avoid creating silos and vertical programmes.
- The plan is also to develop the Recovery and Rebuilding of the health systems for resilience.
END.