Healthcare and frontline workers are still battling Covid-19 as South Africa marks its first anniversary of the pandemic, despite the national roll-out of the Johnson & Johnson clinical trials.
On March 10 the National Department of Health attributed 51 015 deaths to Covid-19 complications, with just over 400 cases being medical workers, including nurses, doctors, paramedics and healthcare staff. Dr Mohammed Kathrada of the Merewent Covid-19 Doctors Forum said the psychological impact of losing many patients was a tough burden to bear.
“I know that we have all battled during this trying time, with a few colleagues getting the virus themselves.” Kathrada added that his lowest point in the past year was the death of his young nephew. “My biggest loss has been the passing of my 13-year-old nephew. He had Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MISC), a rare complication of Covid in children. He was the first recorded case provincially.”
Craig Murphy, regional director of Netcare’s Coastal Region, said a number of frontline workers had lost their lives due to Covid-19, and that their deaths were being mourned. One of those who succumbed to Covid-19 was Dr David Sengendo Sennoga, a Kingsway Hospital paediatrician. Murphy lauded the commitment and personal sacrifice of Dr Sennoga and other Netcare workers.
Speaking about the Sisonke vaccine roll-out, Murphy said Netcare was working closely with various national and provincial departments.
“All our healthcare workers were risk-stratified to determine order-of-priority for vaccination.” He said in the past two weeks a number of Netcare workers had received their vaccinations during Phase I of the J&J clinical trial.” Kathrada, however, warned that those who had been vaccinated still needed to practise other preventative measures. Despite the large loss of life, Kathrada said the only silver lining was that communities, professionals and humanitarian organisations were coming together for a common purpose.
“The first time I heard about the virus was in January 2020. I recall discussing it with a close friend of mine, a Public Health specialist. He showed little concern at the time as viral outbreaks were common in the Far East. We can only hope that this thinking is not repeated in the future,” said Kathrada.
