South Africa's Hospitals Bracing for Surge of Virus Patients
"Nursing is a calling, and we are working to help people in this corona crisis"
JOHANNESBURG - The nurse started crying when describing her work at a
Johannesburg hospital: The ward for coronavirus patients is full, so new
arrivals are sent to the general ward, where they wait days for test
results. Already 20 of her colleagues have tested positive.
"A lot, a lot, a lot of people are coming in every day. With COVID-19,"
said the nurse, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she is not
authorized to speak to the media. "Each day, it becomes more difficult
to cope."
South Africa's reported coronavirus cases more than quadrupled in June —
though some of that is due to efforts to clear a testing backlog, the
rate of increase of new cases is picking up. Its hospitals are now
bracing for an onslaught of patients, setting up temporary wards and
hoping advances in treatment will help the country's health facilities
from becoming overwhelmed.
The surge comes as the country has allowed businesses to reopen in
recent weeks to stave off economic disaster after a strict two-month
stay-at-home order worsened already high unemployment — it reached 30%
in June — and drastically increased hunger. In Johannesburg, the largest
city, health officials said they are considering reimposing some
restrictions to try to slow the quickening spread of the virus.
"We're seeing a spike in infections in Johannesburg. The number of
people that we are diagnosing on a daily basis now is absolutely
frightening," said Shabir Madhi, professor of vaccinology at
Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand, who is leading a vaccine
trial in South Africa in cooperation with Britain's University of
Oxford. "Who we are finding positive now is an indication of who will be
in hospital three weeks from now."
The vaccine trial began last week, and Madhi said he's surprised by the
high number of prospective participants who have been disqualified
because they are positive for the virus.
"It is hard to see how our hospitals will be able to cope," he said. "Our facilities are reaching a tipping point."
"It is hard to see how our hospitals will be able to cope," he said. "Our facilities are reaching a tipping point."
COVID-19 has highlighted South Africa's inequalities, he said. "Everyone
is at risk from the virus," he said. "But the poor, living in higher
density areas, without good access to running water, access to health
care, the poorest will suffer the most."
South Africa, with 58 million people and nearly 40% of all the cases on
the entire continent, has seen the number of confirmed infections rise
from 34,000 at the start of June to more than 168,000 on Friday.
Overnight it reported its largest daily number of new confirmed cases — 8,728.
As of Friday, 2,844 people had died, according to official statistics.
But forecasts by health experts have warned that South Africa could see
from 40,000 to more than 70,000 deaths from COVID-19 before the end of
2020.
Other African countries are watching warily as the country with the
continent's best-equipped and best-staffed health system hurtles toward a
peak that may overwhelm it.
South Africa's health minister, Dr. Zwelini Mkhize, issued a sobering
warning recently about an expected flood of cases, especially in urban
centers as many return to work.
"It is anticipated that, while every province will unfortunately witness
an increase in their numbers, areas where there is high economic
activity will experience an exponential rise," Mkhize said this week.
Concerns about the virus spreading in the minibus taxis that millions of
South Africans use to commute grew this week when the taxi association
said the minivans would run at full capacity of up to 15 passengers,
despite government orders to carry just 70% capacity.
For weeks Cape Town has been the country's epicenter of the disease, but Johannesburg is rapidly catching up.
Mkhize said Gauteng province, which also includes the nation's capital
of Pretoria, will quickly surpass Cape Town and will need more hospital
beds.
Gauteng hospitals already have 3,000 COVID-19 patients, the province's
premier David Makhura told reporters Thursday. He denied reports that
patients have been turned away and said bed capacity would be
significantly increased by the end of July. He said the reopening of
schools set for next week may be postponed and warned that restrictions
may be reimposed to combat the surge.
To increase its hospital capacity, South Africa has converted convention
centers in Cape Town and Johannesburg, built wards in huge tents, and
turned a closed Volkswagen car manufacturing plant into a 3,300-bed
treatment center. Still, finding staff to tend to those beds is a
challenge: The factory remains empty for lack of health workers.
In Khayelitsha township, one of Cape Town's poorest areas with some 400,
000 residents, the district hospital has 300 beds. Anticipating
increased demand on the overstretched facility, an external wing was
created across the street. Built in a month, the new ward opened at the
start of June with 60 beds. By this week only two beds were empty.
"It's overwhelming," said Dr. Hermann Reuter of his work in the external
ward, run by Khayelitsha District Hospital with assistance from Doctors
Without Borders.
Reuter said advances in treatment — including giving patients oxygen
masks and nasal inhalers earlier and turning them often in order to keep
them off ventilators — has yielded encouraging results, even though
many are severely ill when they arrive. Crucially, many can be
discharged in two weeks — freeing up much-needed bed space, said Reuter,
who normally runs community substance abuse clinics but volunteered to
work in the field hospital.
As South Africa heads into its coldest time of year, the media have
warned of a "dark winter" over fears cases will peak in July and August
in the Southern Hemisphere country. President Cyril Ramaphosa recently
counseled the nation to prepare for tough times ahead, saying that many
may find themselves "despondent and fearful" in the weeks and months to
come.
"It may be that things have gotten worse, but we are certain that they will get better," he said.
For the nurse at the Johannesburg hospital, those dark days already appear to have arrived.
For the nurse at the Johannesburg hospital, those dark days already appear to have arrived.
"Nursing is a calling, and we are working to help people in this corona crisis," she said. "But we are becoming overwhelmed."
VOA
AFEEF:
Hadhwanaagnews marnaba masuul kama aha Aragtida dadka kale. Qoraaga ayaa xumaanteeda, xushmadeeda iyo xilkeeda sida. waxa kaliya oo Hadhwanaagmedia dhiirigalinaysaa, isdhaafsiga aragtida, canaanta gacaliyo talo wadaagga!
Loading...
Loading...