Every day, new videos emerge showing Americans suffering meltdowns over wearing a face mask.

We put together a little compilation for your amusement/derision, and once you’ve feasted on those, see a meltdown so wild it ended in divorce.

Meanwhile, on the front lines, South African healthcare workers are battling the collapse of the public healthcare system, and doctors who work in private hospitals are talking about turning away people who pay medical aid, because there are not enough beds.

Those of us not fighting that fight will never fully comprehend the sacrifices being made to treat the ongoing surge of COVID-19 infections, but this video, shared by private health group Melomed, does give some insight into what happens inside a COVID-19 intensive care unit.

The video, which was actually posted to Melomed’s Facebook page on July 4 before being covered by BusinessTech, details the experiences of Cape Town specialist physician Dr Pieter Roelofse, who works at the Belville Melomed Hospital.

It comes with this description:

EXCLUSIVE BEHIND THE SCENES FOOTAGE! We take you behind the scenes at our Melomed Bellville Covid Intensive Care Unit. We thank our true hero’s for the amazing work they do daily as they take care of our patients and provide the best healthcare. #Melomed #MelomedHospitals #COVID19 #ICU #BehindTheScenes #MeloTV #ThankYou #FrontLineStaff.

Be sure to send this to any friends who have a problem with wearing a face mask in public:

We should probably be thankful that we aren’t confronted with footage from inside one of the Eastern Cape’s public hospitals, because there, the wheels have really come off.

Are you ready for the latest COVID-19 numbers? This from IOL:

In the last 24 hours, more than 13 000 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in South Africa.

On Thursday, the Department of Health announced that 13 674 new cases had been confirmed bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 238 339 to date. The death count now stands at 3720 with 129 new COVID-19-related deaths being reported.

That’s a new national daily record for new cases, with Hydra Africa’s tracker breaking it down into provinces:

Remain vigilant, good people.

[sources:melomed&bustech&iol]