A description of events surrounding the index COVID-19 diagnosis in a staff member at Kalafong Provincial Tertiary Hospital in Gauteng, South Africa

Abstract

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presented a huge challenge to the health systems across the world. When the virus hit South Africa, and the state of national disaster was announced by the president, the healthcare system had to work on its COVID-19 response preparedness. Initially, a few hospitals were then designated facilities for managing COVID-19 patients. Kalafong Hospital, which was not amongst a list of designated facilities for COVID-19 was forced to evaluate its level of preparedness after an intern doctor tested positive. The objectives of this report are to illustrate the hospital’s response around the management of the index case to share our facility’s general response to the pandemic.