Health care workers at Estcourt Hospital downed tools last week, demanding to know if there was a confirmed case of Covid-19 at the hospital or not. They still haven’t received any answers.

The KZN Department of Health remains silent on the matter, saying it will not confirm individual cases or reveal specific areas where infections are reported.

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Unions and hospital management engaged in urgent discussions to try and find a resolution on Friday, when healthcare workers, afraid that they may have been exposed to the deadly virus, refused to work.

Panic and fear gripped staff at Estcourt Hospital on Friday, causing a disruption of services at the Outpatients Department (OPD). Staff from the OPD refused to continue working after suspected Covid-19 exposure.

Spokesperson for Health & Other Services Personnel Trade Union of South Africa (Hospersa) Mr Khanyile confirmed on Friday afternoon that members at Estcourt Hospital decided to down tools after they received no response from management regarding claims that a Covid-19 patient, who is alleged to have since left the hospital, was treated at the facility, nor did they receive any feedback about the possibility that staff were exposed to the virus.

“The staff demanded that the OPD be disinfected and all staff tested for coronavirus. A meeting was later held with organised labour and management and it was decided to involve the police to track down the patient and then take it from there,” said Mr Khanyile.

Hospersa then advised staff members to continue working until the facts of the case are revealed.

“If this case turns out to be positive, all services will be suspended but the current situation is that employees are back at work,” he concluded.

Spokesperson for the Health MEC’s office, Noluthando Nkosi emphasised, when called on Friday, that the department would not confirm any individual cases or reveal the specific areas that infections were reported.

“I can confirm that services were disrupted on Friday. After a meeting between the union, district management as well as hospital management, the situation has returned to normal,” she commented on Monday morning.

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