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Much can be said about the bravery of healthcare workers on the frontline of the pandemic.

Doctors and nurses have been hailed as heroes, although we should also commend the sanitation staff, administration staff, porters, and other hospital workers keeping our hospitals running while we fight the spread of COVID-19.

As the people in direct contact with the virus, to date 511 healthcare workers in South Africa have tested positive. A worrying shortage of protective gear is contributing to the problem.

In the Western Cape, the district with the highest number of confirmed cases in the country, Tygerberg, has been hit hard, with as many as 150 hospital staff testing positive.

IOL reports:

The hospital said those affected came from different categories of staff, but due to patient confidentiality they were unable to disclose any more details.

Laticia Pienaar, Tygerberg Hospital spokesperson, said that they “have noted across the health system, and in other sectors, there are several health care workers that are affected and is in isolation at home” but this has not had any negative effect on hospital’s service delivery.

“We have adequate staff and specialists on duty to render uninterrupted and quality service to the patients in hospital,” she said.

Anncha Kepkey, a professional nurse and assistant manager for the Trauma and Emergency Unit, succumbed to the virus on Wednesday.

She is the third nurse to die from COVID-19 related illness, and the second from Tygerberg Hospital. Petronella Benjamin was the first.

The hospital was one of the first in the country to open a designated coronavirus isolation ward and is situated in a district considered one of the hot spots in the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa.

As of Thursday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Western Cape is 12 152, which means that the 150 cases at Tygerberg Hospital account for 1,23% of the total cases in the province.

[source:iol]