KANYAMAZANE – A reliable source at the clinic said a patient was admitted last Tuesday after being brought in by her family.
“She was so sick that she could not walk from the car into the ward, hence she was assisted by nurses and general staff.
“It was only after she was admitted that her family indicated that she had tested positive for Covid-19 and they called the ER24 ambulance to take her away”.
The nurses revealed that only five staff members who were in contact with the patient were tested and were still waiting for their results on Monday.
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The source added that other nurses working at the clinic were worried about their health as they were not tested and the department did not close down the clinic as per the norm when a Covid-19 case occurred.
“The ward where the patient was was sanitised, but our worry is that the department told us to continue to work
even though the results the others were not yet back and not everybody was tested. We were told that we will only be
tested if we developed symptoms. We are so stressed and cannot work properly, not knowing if we have the virus or not,” they said.
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Dumisane Malamule, spokesperson for the Department of Health, said the clinic was sanitised immediately after the case was reported and employees were ordered to continue with their work.
“After an area has been fumigated, it is deemed fit for use after two to three hours, hence the employees returned
to work because the area was safe,” he concluded.
