Parliament’s Health Committee and the Select Committee on Health and Social Services will embark on a joint oversight visit to the Western Cape on Tuesday and KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday.
Health Committee Chairperson, Sibongiseni Dhlomo, says they will be assessing the state of quarantine sites and the readiness of public hospitals to deal with COVID-19.
The oversight visit will start in Cape Town on Tuesday with a visit to the Tygerberg Hospital, the National Health Laboratory Service and the quarantine site at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Dhlomo says as inter-provincial travelling is not allowed under Level 4 lockdown, the committees have deployed their members to conduct oversight visits in the provinces where they reside.
Highest number of deaths in a day
Meanwhile, the Western Cape recorded its highest number of deaths in a single day since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in the province.
The province has recorded 49 of the country’s 52 fatalities – a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Level 3 of the lockdown will be implemented on June 1.
Since the start of Level 4 288 deaths have been recorded in the Western Cape.
According to the national daily figures, the Western Cape had recorded 42 deaths at the end of Level 5 lockdown by April 30.
By the start of Level 4 lockdown, it had recorded 55 deaths.
By Monday, the province recorded the highest number of deaths in one day, bringing its total death total to 330.
It still remains unclear whether many of the recorded deaths are of people who are in self isolation, in quarantine site, in private or public hospitals.
Confirmed COVID-19 in South Africa cases increase
On Monday, the Department of Health announced that confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Africa has risen to 23 615 with 11 917 recoveries.
The number of deaths has also gone up, after the department reported 52 new COVID-19 related deaths bringing the death toll to 481.
The statement below shows the statistics
