The Gauteng Department of Health has amended its visiting hours in hospitals to allow relatives and friends to spend more time with their loved ones.

Patients will now be allowed to have one visitor per day for 15 minutes during allocated times.

This comes after Cabinet moved the country from Adjusted Alert Level 2 to Adjusted Alert Level 1, which allows for more relaxed COVID-19 lockdown regulations with infections and hospitalisation slowing down.

“The amendment will permit relatives and friends of patients to spend time with their loved ones whilst adhering to COVID-19 safety measures such as social distancing, minimising overcrowding and hospital congestion.

“This will also ensure the promotion of and adherence to occupational health and safety measures, whilst promoting optimum infection prevention and control measures at all Gauteng public healthcare centres,” the department said in a statement.

The department has also urged relatives of patients to get the contact details of the ward where their family members are admitted so they can call whenever possible without having to visit the hospital.

All visitors will be screened for temperature and COVID-19 symptoms.

Source: South African Government News Agency