The mechanics of setting up a COVID-19 response: Experiences of the COVID-19 epidemic from Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

The mechanics of setting up a COVID-19 response: Experiences of the COVID-19 epidemic from Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

South African Medical Journal, September 2020

33205722

M Mendelson, L Booyens, A Boutall, L Cairncross, G Calligaro, J A Dave, S Dlamini, S Dyer, B Eick, K Fieggen, P Frankenfeld, J Hoare, R Hofmeyr, J Joska, I Joubert, R Krause, A Kropman, D Levin, D Maughan, G Meintjes, E Muller, N Ntusi, N Papavarnavas, B Patel, J Peter, P Raubenheimer, Q Said-Hartley, P Singh, S Wasserman, on behalf of the Groote Schuur Hospital COVID-19 Response Team

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has challenged the provision of healthcare in ways that are unprecedented in our lifetime. Planning for the sheer numbers expected during the surge has required public hospitals to de-escalate all non-essential clinical services to focus on COVID-19. Western Cape Province was the initial epicentre of the COVID-19 epidemic in South Africa (SA), and the Cape Town metro was its hardest-hit geographical region. We describe how we constructed our COVID-19 hospital-wide clinical service at Groote Schuur Hospital, the University of Cape Town's tertiary-level teaching hospital. By describing the barriers and enablers, we hope to provide guidance rather than a blueprint for hospitals elsewhere in SA and in low-resource countries that face similar challenges now or during subsequent waves.