Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says over 3,500 beds have been put into operation in the Eastern Cape, but there will be a need for more capacity.
Mkhize visited the province amid concerns of a complete collapse of the healthcare system.
The Eastern Cape has recorded an unprecedented 400 new Covid-19 related fatalities in the last 24-hour cycle, the highest single day jump for any province to date.
The minister said a team would meet on Thursday to sort out the bureaucratic processes associated with employing more healthcare professional in order to provide relief to existing staff.
“All of us know that for a long time there were vacancies and posts that were frozen, and so they were running a large number of vacancies. That we have had to deal with, so we are encouraging the provincial department to open the database and make sure that we get as many of the staff as possible,” Mkhize said.
The Eastern Cape has registered over 67,000 confirmed cases and over 1,3000 deaths.
