We can't sacrifice health workers, says Mkhize

Butterworth Hospital nurses wanted SA's top health official to hear that there were only 85 personal protective equipment (PPE) packages for the entire facility, but they never had the chance.

Instead health minister Zweli Mkhize addressed them alongside health MEC Sindiswa Gomba. While conceding there had been issues with the rollout of PPE, he said the establishment of occupational health and safety committees would help to rectify the situation.

Mkhize was in the Eastern Cape on Thursday to conduct oversight visits to hospitals in Butterworth and Mthatha where some health workers have downed tools over PPE and decontamination grievances.

In Butterworth, a group of 10 nurses demanded to personally meet  Mkhize to inform him about the lack of PPE but that meeting never took place. Mkhize was logged into a virtual parliamentary caucus meeting while sitting in his car.

Earlier he had been locked away in a two-hour briefing session with health officials.    

“How can it be that we have we only get 85 PPE packages when there are 800 staff here? This thing of washing PPE I'm not going to do. That is why we are here, to speak to the minister and MEC,” a nurse, who refused to give her name, told the Dispatch.

The provincial health department and labour unions have locked horns over the handling of the Eastern Cape's Covid-19 response — something of which Mkhize was clearly aware of.

He said the tensions between the department and unions needed to be diffused.

“A number of hospitals have had protests and work stoppages, requiring that  hospitals cease operations. But I'm very pleased to hear that  in a number of these areas there has been the activation of the occupational health and safety committees to be able to sit and deal with the health and safety issues of our staff,” Mkhize said.

Despite having done significantly fewer tests than Gauteng, the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape has the third most Covid-19 cases in the country.

By Thursday, it had 7,868 cases — behind only the Western Cape (37,422) and Gauteng (7,953). There have been 147 deaths in the province.

Mkhize said establishment of  occupational health and safety committees was a positive step.

“Two months ago we announced that we had set up this committee at national level, and we agreed with the MECs that this must be cascaded at the provincial, and district and local level.

“Those who are involved in the work should be able to discuss the issues of the safety. There has been  concern about the safety of our staff and the availability of PPE. The protective clothing has to be provided so that the staff are able to tackle the raging infections with confidence. I really hope that these committees that are going to be activated in every part of the province.”

He said training of health care workers was important in terms of how to deal with the infection of Covid-19.

“It can be devastating if we don't follow the simple infections protocols, but health workers must be trained to deal with the infection. It is important to make sure that everyone is well protected, and also for everyone to understand the level of protection you need, depending on the level of exposure that you are facing. We cannot sacrifice our professionals while intending to fight and defeat Covid-19.”

Mkhize emphasised that specialised medical masks should be reserved for  health professionals. Some people had turned masks into a “fashion statement”, he said.

“We are doing everything we can to supply of PPE. Twice now we have come to reinforce the MEC's office with PPE. We are saying to the MEC that you must make sure that everybody has got (PPE).”

Mkhize said the numbers of people who had tested positive for  Covid-19  was rising, but many people had misinterpreted what the easing of the national lockdown meant.

“When we said we are easing the lockdown, that did means we can behave any way we liked. Actually Covid-19 is a much a stronger infection now than what it was when we introduced the lockdown. Then there were 927 people infected and there was no deaths. It was after that we started seeing deaths and now deaths have increased to more than 1,175.

He called on South Africans to change their behaviour.

“The use of masks- a cloth mask is adequate, one just needs to wear it properly. Mask wearing alone is not enough. Wash your hands regularly, sanitise and keep surfaces clean. All of this reduces infections. We need community stakeholders. The battle is now in the community,” Mkhize said.

There are now 58,568 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in SA, Mkhize said.

This was an increase of 3,157 cases from the 55,421 announced on Wednesday night.

More than a million tests have now been completed in SA.

Earlier Eastern Cape MEC Sindiswa Gomba said Mkhize is in the province at the department's request. “We called on the minister as we need his assistance and guidance. We are experiencing some challenges,” Gomba said.

This week nurses at Tafalofefe Hospital in Butterworth, left patients unguarded after complaining of not have enough personal protective equipment.

In the public interest, most of our coronavirus news isn’t behind our paywall, and is free to read. To support our mission of delivering award-winning, independent local news, subscribe from as little as R45 per month by clicking here.