“Since Netcare St Augustine’s and Netcare Kingsway hospitals were closed for new patient admissions in April, Netcare has been engaging and working closely, and on an ongoing basis, with the KZN DoH on all matters pertaining to COVID-19 at the hospitals as well as planning for their re-opening,” says Craig Murphy, regional director coastal of Netcare hospitals.

“Preparations for both the hospitals to re-open on Monday, 11 May 2020 are currently underway. Last week, the hospitals had already further enhanced their disinfecting and decontaminating programmes of all the facilities on their premises. Doctors at Netcare St Augustine’s and Netcare Kingsway hospitals will also again be consulting from their rooms as from Monday.

“We are pleased that Netcare St Augustine’s and Netcare Kingsway hospitals can again offer much needed specialised medical care to the communities they serve, and we sincerely thank the communities for their patience and understanding over the past number of weeks.

“The resilience and commitment demonstrated by our staff since the first COVID-19 cases were identified in South Africa has been humbling. We value the tremendous contribution of our nursing and support staff, doctors, other healthcare practitioners and contract service providers at the frontline of the fight against COVID-19, and would like to express our deep and heartfelt gratitude to each of them for their incredible efforts under these challenging circumstances,” Murphy concludes.