Health department must nip Covid-19 non-compliance in the bud
5 August 2020
The Democratic alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape has made an urgent call on Health MEC, MarupingLekwene, to do an urgent audit on Covid-19 compliance of all Northern Cape hospitals.
This comes after another health facility, the Connie Vorster Hospital in Hartswater, today shut its doors after staff embarked on a strike outside the facility (see pics here and here). It is believed that staff are unhappy because, despite two recent Covid-19 related deaths at the facility, including one of a staff member, the hospital has yet to be disinfected.
In addition to the matters relating to sanitizing of the facility, the DA has also learnt that Covid-19 patients are not necessarily being separated from general patients and have been made to share wards.
Also of concern, is the fact that the hospital is not ventilator-ready and three patients who tested Covid-19 positive, who were in a serious condition, apparently had to be transported to the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe (RMS) Hospital in Kimberley.