To assist in the fight to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, State-owned utility Eskom has handed its Academy of Learning (EAL) centre in Midrand, Johannesburg, over to the government to be used as a quarantine site.
The facility, which has 416 beds and other facilities, will be used to accommodate guests of the government who have to undergo a period of quarantine and observation for signs of Covid-19.
“In accordance with our own values of zero harm and Sinobuntu, Eskom pledges to be an active and responsive partner to the people of South Africa as we embark on this unprecedented struggle against the common enemy that is the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Eskom group CE André de Ruyter.
Making this facility available will help contribute to the Gauteng Department of Health’s efforts to find about 10 000 beds to accommodate its guests in facilities that still afford them the privacy and dignity they should expect during this difficult time, said Gauteng Department of Health infrastructure head Dr Sifiso Maseko.
In line with the department’s requirements, it has taken over and will run the EAL facility during the period of the national lockdown, and for some time thereafter.
Following the government’s demobilisation process, and based on the World Health Organisation’s best practice, the property will then be handed back to Eskom to continue to be used in the normal business of training.