Six members of war room contract COVID-19 virus in Gauteng

In a statement, the department said its head, Prof Mkhululi Lukhele, was among those who had tested positive.

The Gauteng Department of Health has confirmed that six members of its COVID-19 war room have contracted the virus.

In a statement, the department said its head, Prof Mkhululi Lukhele, was among those who had tested positive.

They are all doing well and isolating at home, reads the statement.

Meanwhile, the department has clarified that it had not dug one million graves for COVID-19.

“The department does not have a million already open graves, the over a million graves refers to the collective capacity municipalities can take,” said the department.

The clarity came after MEC Dr Bandile Masuku visited a gravesite in Tshwane on Wednesday. The gravesite visited has a capacity of about 24 000.

The GDoH said it is continuing to improve and increase both the infrastructure and human resource capacity of its system to deal with the increasing pressure of the pandemic.

“We understand that the subject of death is an uncomfortable matter to engage in, however, ensuring that there is adequate burial space in the province, unfortunately, forms part of the real government must contend within the battle against COVID-19,” the department said.

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)