Limpopo’s handling of Covid-19 doctors could lead to concealment of symptoms

The ham-fisted approach with which a case of two doctors in Limpopo has been dealt could lead to their colleagues across the country concealing their symptoms, if they were to contract the coronavirus.

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) today said that doctors who are forced to be quarantined at a state facilities despite showing mild symptoms of Covid-19 might lead other health workers to hesitate in testing for the virus, particularly in Limpopo.

Two doctors, who tested positive for the coronavirus but are asymptomatic, were carted off by a contingent of masked police to be quarantined at a tuberculosis quarantining facility in the province. The doctors work in Mpumalanga but have been under self-quarantine at their home in Limpopo.

Under a court order obtained by the Health MEC Phophi Ramathuba, the two doctors were last week removed from their homes to be quarantined and locked up in a room at the province’s MDR-TB Hospital.

In a video taken by one of the doctors, the two are seen being instructed to leave their property to be taken to the quarantine facility. The doctors are then sprayed with sanitizer under their shoes before being locked in a room with glass walls.“Locked in a room like a criminal in a prison cell,” the doctor is heard saying in the video.

Seeing how these doctors have been treated could make doctors attempt to conceal their status should they catch the virus and wish to avoid similar treatment, SAMA chairperson Dr Angelique Coetzee said.

“I think they won’t say anything if they are sick. They won’t work but might take sick leave and not really say its because of the coronavirus. They would be hesitant, especially in Limpopo.”

SAMA and the MEC were butting heads before the courts as the association challenged the court order.

The matter is expected to be concluded later this week.

Doctors in the public sector who feared contracting the virus due to a shortage of protective gear have been advised to attempt to socially distance from their patients and disinfect their equipment.

“Social distance from patients as much as possible. It is difficult but treat a patient as quick as possible. The stethoscope should be disinfected. Wear gloves and throw them away after each patient. If you can’t do social distancing in your clinic or waiting room, then you shouldn’t see a patient because everyone is at risk. There is no shortcut in this,” Coetzee said.

rorisangk@citizen.co.za

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