Health MEC: Our nurses are protected
The department has taken all measures to protect our workers, which include the adequate supply of Personal Protective Equipment.
Premier Stanley Chupu Mathabatha recently confirmed during a Provincial Coronavirus Command Council meeting, that Limpopo has to date lost 11 healthcare workers to Covid-19.
Mathabatha stated that this loss has shown the ruthlessness of the pandemic and has affected and impacted the health sector: “Healthcare workers are our last line of defence. To date, 1 717 healthcare workers have tested positive for Covid-19. Of these, 1 597 have recovered while we have 105 active cases.”
Last week’s Polokwane Observer (page 4), however, saw an article published under the headline: ‘MEC: Nurses who died, contracted the virus elsewhere’.
After an interview with the MEC for Health, Dr Phophi Ramathuba earlier today, it became apparent that she had been quoted out of context.
The MEC clarified that she is confident in saying that “the department does not have any cases of nurses who work in specifically Covid-19 wards, who have been on duty during the pandemic, who were infected in these wards”.
According to Ramathuba, some of those nurses who had passed away, had just retired while others had been on leave and returned to work.
“Some nurses who returned from leave, came back infected because we are also part of the broader community and this is a clear indication of community spread. We have taken all measures to protect our workers, which include the adequate supply of Personal Protective Equipment which we must emphasise. All healthcare workers even those working in other units must at all times wear PPE’s,” she added.
Ramathuba says the psychological hub for healthcare professionals is being established to assist workers to deal with any trauma as a result of treating patients during the pandemic. She launched the hub in response to an outcry by the workers for psychological services. It includes a 24-hour support team at every institution.
The department had already advertised various posts that are in the process of being filled to make up for gap in the healthcare workers numbers left by nurses. Polokwane Observer hereby retracts the published headline, and apologises for the inconvenience caused.
