South Africa is experiencing an oxygen shortage amid its battle against COVID-19, which has strained its health sector.
An AP report shows that the country’s epicenter, Gauteng Province, was experiencing a decline in oxygen supply.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, visiting a hospital Friday, said authorities are working with industry to address the strained oxygen supply and divert more to health facilities.
The country is Africa’s worst affected state by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has now infected more than 545,000 people in the continent and killed over 12,500 patients.
By Friday afternoon, South Africa had reported infections exceeding 238,000 and fatalities beyond 3,700.
The figures represent 43.7 percent of Africa’s infections and 29.6 percent of its deaths.
“The storm that we have consistently warned South Africans about is now arriving,” Mkhize said this week.
A nurse at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital — the third largest hospital in the world with more than 3,000 beds — painted a bleak picture, saying new patients with the virus are now being admitted into ordinary wards as the COVID-19 ones are full.
“Our hospital is overloaded already. There has been an influx of patients over the last two weeks,” AP quotes the nurse, who was speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give interviews.
South Africa has also seen its frontline health care workers feel the brunt of the outbreak.
The country has reported nearly half of Africa’s 8,000 health workers that have contracted COVID-19.
South Africa was picked for human trials of a potential COVID-19 vaccine, which is hoped may be ready for rollout by early 2021.
