Kudos for Covid-19 contact tracers

Among the Nelson Mandela Bay contact tracers who are making a difference in the fight against Covid-19 are, from left, Asive Ngibe, Msimelelo Buhlungu and Siphokazi Molo
VITAL WORK: Among the Nelson Mandela Bay contact tracers who are making a difference in the fight against Covid-19 are, from left, Asive Ngibe, Msimelelo Buhlungu and Siphokazi Molo
Image: Eugene Coetzee

Nurses and doctors and other health care workers have been publicly celebrated and thanked for their contribution to the fight against Covid-19, but the contact tracers who are literally the people on the ground should not be forgotten.

Nelson Mandela Bay disaster management boss Shane Brown said on Thursday morning that contact tracing officials were risking their lives in the fight against Covid-19.

He was speaking at an event at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium where contact tracers gave a presentation on the work they had done so far and some of the challenges they faced.

His remarks were echoed by environmental health deputy director Dr Patrick Nodwele, who said the contact tracing data was what they used to paint the epidemiological picture which helped to manage the spread of the virus.

“Environmental health practitioners are quite significant because they are out there on the front lines and they play a preventive role and also secure human environments,” he said.

“Their presence is so important because if they were not there clinics and hospitals would be overwhelmed with the number of cases and would not cope.”

One of the tracers, Logan Louis, said the biggest challenge was the lack of education about Covid-19, adding that more education was needed to fight stigma and dispel inaccurate information circulating in communities.

“Despite all the information out there about Covid-19, you still find that communities are not fully educated.

“Because of the stigma attached we do not feel safe in communities but we want to do the job,” Louis said.

 


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