Covid-19: Two more healthcare workers die in the Western Cape

Two household aids employed at two Western Cape hospitals have died of Covid-19, the provincial health department confirmed on Friday.

Muriel Landu, who worked in the Emergency Unit at Tygerberg Hospital, and Nolefefe Mdumata, who was employed at Khayelitsha Hospital, both died after contracting the virus, department spokesperson Mark van der Heever said.

“We express our sincere condolences to their families, friends and colleagues. Their hard work, gentle natures and commitment will always be remembered and missed by their colleagues,” he added.

The virus has killed six public healthcare workers in the Western Cape as of this week, of which three were professional nurses.

Anncha Kepkey, a nurse and assistant manager of nursing for the trauma and emergency department at Tygerberg Hospital, died this week and is the second nursing fatality at the hospital.

Another nurse at the hospital, Ntombizakithi Ngidi, died earlier this month.

This followed the death of Petronella Benjamin, a nurse at a Golden Acre Clinic in the City Bowl, who died of Covid-19 complications in April.

The first fatality was a porter working at Groote Schuur Hospital. His family did not grant permission for him to be named.

Since the start of the pandemic, 421 healthcare workers have been infected by the virus, the department said. To date, 274 have recovered.

Meanwhile, Tygerberg Hospital has confirmed that as of 18 May, 105 staff members have contracted Covid-19.

“As we have noted across the health system, and in other sectors, there are several healthcare workers who are affected and is in isolation at home,” Van der Heever said.

“However, this has not had any negative effect on service delivery at Tygerberg Hospital. We have adequate staff on duty to render uninterrupted and quality service to the patients in hospital.”

The Western Cape had 12,519 confirmed cases, according to provincial statistics released on Friday, as of 1pm.

This is up by 709 from the day before.

A total of 6,126 people have recovered, while 257 have died.

*Note: Due to different reporting times, the provincial numbers will differ to the national numbers for given provinces by a few cases per day.

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