MKHIZE: ALCOHOL BAN LIKELY TO HELP FREE UP HOSPITAL SPACE FOR COVID-19 CASES

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said that alcohol abuse and the related unnecessary trauma that it often brought with it had been filling up ICU beds, especially in COVID-19 hotspots across the country.

Thando Kubheka 

Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG - Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has appealed to South Africans to do their bit to flatten the curve and free up space in the nation’s hospitals.

Addressing a briefing on the new level three lockdown regulations, Mkhize said that the ban on alcohol sales was likely to help matters considerably.

Minister Mkhize said that alcohol abuse and the related unnecessary trauma that it often brought with it had been filling up ICU beds, especially in COVID-19 hotspots across the country.

"We find that our ICUs are full of trauma patients when, in fact, we need them for COVID-19 related situations."

Mkhize has appealed to citizens to work with government to ensure that they abide by lockdown restrictions and in so doing, reduce the number of infections.

"... so that we can open up our hospitals so that we can continue to treat people who have come there with other diseases that are not related to COVID-19."

Over 11,000 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalised. Of these just over 3,500 are on oxygen and 604 are on ventilators.