Suspected Covid-19 patients were routinely left for hours in an open tent, in sub-zero temperatures, outside a South African hospital during the mid-winter peak of the pandemic, leading to "many" people dying of suspected hypothermia, according to an exclusive investigation by BBC News.
The revelations have emerged as South Africa's government has acknowledged and condemned widespread corruption and mismanagement during its response to the pandemic.
"It was freezing in that tent. As soon as night falls it's horrible, you can see the patients declining. Hypothermia is one of the major causes of death here. Especially in that tent," said a doctor at Sebokeng Hospital - a whistleblower who spoke to us on condition of anonymity.
The doctor said 14 people had reportedly died in the tent over one 48-hour period - though not all of hypothermia. BBC
