LIMPOPO – Shortly after the country recorded its first Covid-19 case, public hospitals on 18 March announced that visiting hours have been shortened to one hour a day, from 12:00 to 13:00, and a maximum of two persons per bed would be allowed as from the next day. Visitors were then limited to a 15-minute visit only. Other visits were to be authorised by the attending doctor only.
Visiting hours have since been suspended wholly.
Private hospital group Mediclinic, in a press release issued on Tuesday, stated that all visiting hours have been suspended.
“Please note that in the interest of reducing risks to our patients, general visiting hours have been temporarily withdrawn as of 1 April 2020. Exceptions to these visiting hours include (strictly one visitor per patient), by arrangement with hospital management:
- Neonatal ICU
- Maternity Unit
- Paediatric Unit
- Visits to critically ill patients
We thank you for your understanding in this regard.”
The Netcare Pholoso Hospital group’s visiting hours have also been suspended, as from 25 March, except with the following specific special exceptions as a further precaution against the spread of Covid-19. “In light of the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, we needed to take extraordinary measures to protect all healthcare teams and our patients who cannot be discharged,” said Dr Richard Friedland, Netcare Chief in a statement. All visiting hours for general wards, ICUs and the high care units were suspended with immediate effect.
The only exceptions are:
- Nurseries and neonatal intensive care units (NICUs): only ONE parent at a time is allowed to visit newborns in a nursery or NICU on condition that the parent visiting has had no Covid-19 exposure and accepts that very strict infection prevention controls will be put in place to minimise the risks to their baby and other babies being cared for in these facilities.
- Paediatrics: Only ONE parent at a time is permitted to live in with an admitted child. This parent is required to have had no COVID-19 exposure and accepts that very strict infection prevention controls will be put in place to minimise the risks to their child and other children being cared for in our paediatric facilities.
- Gravely ill patients: an exception can be granted by the hospital general manager, as authorised by the regional director, in these instances. A minimal number of visitors will be granted this exception and they will be required to wear a mask.
“We thank families and friends of patients for their co-operation with regard to these measures in this unprecedented time and for their contribution to ensuring that we keep our most vulnerable loved ones safe,” Dr Friedland concluded.
The Life Healthcare group, on its website, also earlier restricted visiting hours to reduce the number of people accessing its facilities. As of Friday, 27 March, all visiting hours for general wards, ICU and High Care units were suspended. Other regulations that apply:
- Nursery & NICU:One parent at a time will be allowed to visit new-borns. The parent will be subject to strict screening criteria prior to hospital admission.
- Paediatric Wards:Only one parent at a time will be permitted to sleep-in with an admitted paediatric patient. The parent will be subject to strict screening criteria prior to hospital admission.
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