Health practitioners are not coping anymore, says SAMA

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) says health practitioners are not coping anymore during the adjusted level 4 lockdown.

Chairperson of the SAMA, Dr Angelique Coetzee, says healthcare workers do not get enough emotional support.

“The staff doesn’t cope anymore, emotionally we don’t cope anymore. We get irritated, we distance ourselves from the patients especially if you know that this patient is not going to make it. You just go on to the next one because if you get emotionally involved with that patient, you will not make it, from the medical point of view. Right now it’s very bad, and there’s not enough support, emotional support for doctors and nurses at this level,” she says.

South Africa will remain on COVID-19 lockdown level 4 due to high COVID-19 cases:

On Sunday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases reported a 459 increase in hospital admissions in the country.

The total number of cases in the country now stands at 2 195 599, while the death toll is at 64289.

Vaccinologist, Professor Shabir Madhi, has welcomed government’s decision to keep the country under level 4 lockdown restrictions, saying it was a necessary move amid the increase in COVID-19 cases in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.