South Africa has deployed the military to bolster the fight against COVID-19 which has battered the country.
Dozens of military medical personnel were deployed on Sunday in the Eastern Cape province which has seen a recent surge in infections.
South Africa is the worst affected country by the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa, having registered 196,750 infections and 3,199 deaths by Monday morning, according to data from the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.
The military deployed 47 defence force medical personnel to shore up the Eastern Cape province’s battle against the disease.
“The province is not coping. They have personnel and equipment problems,” AFP quotes defence force spokesman Thabo Sello.
“The situation in the Eastern Cape is really bad with infections increasing and spreading rapidly,” he added.
The team of military medical personnel includes doctors, nurses, health technicians and clinical support staff.
“When the nation calls us, we have to respond, and respond quickly,” AFP quotes military medical services chief, Lieutenant-General Zola Dabula.
Dabula expressed concern that some citizens were not taking this pandemic “seriously.”
“So our duty as the army medical personnel is not only to treat people, but also to educate them about this virus,” he said.
The South African government has been easing restrictions that were imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19, after the country’s economy took a battering from lengthy inactivity by some sectors.
President Cyril Ramaphosa last week urged South Africans to remain vigilant even as the measures are eased. He asked citizens to continue adhering to the set health guidelines to protect themselves from contracting the disease.
“Coronavirus is part of our lives and will continue to be for some time to come. We must adapt to this reality,” he said.
