Wits prof Guy Richards on potential Critical Care shortage; and kids back to school

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in many countries around the world; the worry has always been that countries' health services will be overwhelmed. In Italy and New York in the United States, there was a stage that the hospitals could not cope with the influx of critically ill patients leading to difficult choices being made of who will be treated and who will die. In Wuhan in China and in London in the UK, the authorities have been able to respond quickly by building large hospitals and providing Intensive Care Units. As Covid-19 cases increase in South Africa, the big question is; will our health services cope? Professor Emeritus at Wits University in Critical Care Guy Richards who is advising at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital told Biznews that Cape Town is already under pressure and he says private hospitals are going to have to be brought on board if the public hospitals are overrun. He also comments on whether it is safe for children to go back to school and whether there are effective treatments for Covid-19. – Linda van Tilburg

Cases of Covid-19 are increasing in South Africa, with some predictions that the worst-case scenario is a million cases with 40,000 deaths. BizNews asked an expert in critical care in South Africa, professor emeritus at Wits University professor, Guy Richards, who is advising the university's academic hospital on critical care about these predictions and what can be expected in the coming months. Professor Richards also weighs in on the treatments like hydroxychloroquine and remdesivir, which he is not excited about, and about whether school children are at risk of Covid-19.

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