MedicalBrief 296 - 02 April 2020
"The SA Medical Association has warned, as the virus spreads among health workers, that if more doctors and nurses are infected at work and have to self-isolate, the health system could collapse.
The coronavirus, which first entered South Africa in wealthy people returning from ski trips to Europe, is now beginning to seep into communities from where it’s likely to spread rapidly. Business Day reports that someone from the crowded township of Alexandra, near Sandton, has now tested positive for COVID-19. However, he had travelled to Limpopo while awaiting his test result, which may have spread the disease further. A resident of Khayelitsha in Cape Town also tested positive, suggesting the spark has been lit on the spread of the virus into congested townships.
The report says an equally at-risk group is the elderly. Five elderly people at the Bill Buchanan Association for the Aged in Morningside, Durban, have tested positive for COVID-19. Four of them are now isolated in a separate building, while one is in a critical condition in hospital. The home has 210 residents, including 50 in frail care. Sixteen staff members, who had treated the patients, are self-isolating at home in case they were infected.
Meanwhile, the SA Medical Association (Sama) has said if too many unprotected doctors and nurses get COVID-19 at work and have to self-isolate, the health system could collapse. Sama chair Dr Angelique Coetzee is quoted in the report as saying: “This is an untenable situation. Frontline medical staff must be protected at all times … The reliable supply of proper personal protective equipment is simply non-negotiable”.
A growing number of health-care workers have been infected by COVID-19. According to a Business Day report, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said a total of 13 health-care workers, including 11 doctors, have been confirmed to have the coronavirus, but none appeared to have been infected by patients."
Read more:
https://www.medicalbrief.co.za/archives/health-system-at-risk-as-virus-spreads-among-health-workers/
