Poor communities at high risk of rapidly spreading virus

Depending on the number of people who have come into contact with the person who has tested positive for Covid-19 in Khayelitsha, and how quickly the case was contained, the Western Cape township could see a rapid spread of the virus that should have been avoided by all means.

This is according to private medical health practitioner Dr Shakira Choonara, who said she visited Khayelitsha during the Emerging Voices for Global Health Programme in 2014 and had heard disturbing accounts of lack of access to health care.

“I recall patients sharing experiences with us, where it was unsafe to walk to hospitals or facilities for fear of violence or being raped, with there being possible transport issues and many facing unfair wage cuts, the barriers to accessing healthcare if one has symptoms are there,” Choonara said.

She said unless government was also planning to implement contingencies for easily accessible testing, being tested and treated may be a reality many might never see.

Choonara lamented the fact that health facilities and preparedness were weak, saying hygiene may be pushed everywhere but if health facilities were also not clean, especially in more disadvantaged areas, containment was unlikely.

There has been serious concerns that Covid-19 could wreak havoc in the country’s biggest townships and shanty towns due to overcrowding, lack of water and sanitation.

Choonara said the country’s spaces were defined spatially by apartheid with stark inequalities still persisting because of our government’s failures to deliver on promises for basic services, saying the primary prevention to tackle Covid-19 was to wash one’s hands but that this was a luxury in such places.

She said a few days ago, Khayelitsha residents pointedly and correctly asked where the water was they needed to wash their hands with.

Choonara said at least, compared to the rest of the continent, Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu has announced that vulnerable communities have been identified for provision of water.

“Whether this has been successfully implemented and whether this will be sufficient or not will have to be followed up,” she said.

However, she said instead of gloom and despair, the Covid-19 pandemic should be seen as an opportunity for solutions to the country’s water and sanitation infrastructure challenges and improve people’s lives.

“In my opinion, this should instead be the opportunity to provide long-term measures for water and sanitation infrastructure because until today even the types of toilet facilities we are seeing are unacceptable,” Choonara added.

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