Concerns raised as 597 healthcare workers in Limpopo infected with Covid-19

Limpopo has 47 medical doctors who have tested positive for Covid-19 since the deadly virus hit South Africa this year. For a province with an acute shortage of medical doctors, this is seen by many as a serious setback for the rural province.

Chairperson for the Limpopo Covid-19 Command Council, Chupu Mathabatha, who is also premier and ANC provincial chairman, said the latest infection records for doctors was serious cause for concern.

Mathabatha was speaking in Polokwane on Wednesday during a virtual provincial command council meeting. He said it was also of grave concern that the number of infections among healthcare workers was increasing. To date, according to Mathabatha, 597 healthcare workers in Limpopo have been infected by Covid-19. Mathabatha said of that number, 47 were doctors and 302 nurses.

“As a province, we are hard at work to mitigate against the rising tide of infections. Among other milestones aimed at curbing the scourge is the recent opening of the 89-bed high care facility in Modimolle. We are also impressed that the province recorded a below-average trend in the number of Covid-19 cases on a daily basis.”

The premier revealed that in the past 24 hours, Limpopo reported 159 new cases, below the expected projection of 300 a day as the surge peaked.

“We want to continuously implore our people to work with government in the fight against this virus by taking all precautionary measures at all times. People must wash their hands with soap and water, sanitise, wear a mask whenever they are out and maintain social distancing.

“We also wish to encourage our people to support all those who test positive. We are pleading with them to desist from stigmatising them. On Wednesday, the national cumulative number of infections stood at 9 177 and 5 638 people recovered. This leaves us with only 3 449 active cases.”

He said that in the province, the admission of Covid-19 patients to both public and private facilities stood at 109. Of that number, nine were in high care facilities and 18 were in intensive care units.

Mathabatha added he was gravely concerned about the growing number of people testing positive in informal settlements like Burgersfort, Praktiseer, Steelpoort and Talana Hostel in Tzaneen. The premier said the situation in such areas, which culminated in a serious disregard of Covid-19 regulations, prompted the national department to use the expertise of the housing development agency to build proper houses in the areas to curb the surge.

The programme was a national project implemented in all nine provinces. The department appointed the agency as project manager to help implement the programme on its behalf.

“Underpinning this programme is a commitment by national government to provide Covid-19 emergency relief to communities who live in densely populated informal settlements through de-densification/partial relocation.”

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