The South African Medical Association (SAMA) has advised its members to refuse to treat patients if they do not have sufficient protection against coronavirus. It says their members are concerned about contracting coronavirus from their patients.
In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, people who suspect they may be infected have been advised to seek medical care immediately. However, this exposes health workers to infections.
General Practitioner in private practice at the Florida Medical Centre, Doctor Marlin McKay, says he is inundated with concerns from patients about coronavirus.
“A lot of the calls are patients in fear and panicking and a lot of it is unwarranted. A friend of a friend of a mother and a sister has corona, should I be worried? Most of the calls are not someone who has been in direct contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. So, it’s more of reassurance and advising them of the steps to take but I must say there’s a lot of fear and panic out there.”
Medical practitioners concerned about contracting COVID-19
The SAMA says most of their members are concerned about contracting COVID-19 from their patients in the practice.
“We’ve got numerous calls from doctors asking us what to do? How do they need to handle the situation? So, it is a huge concern and we keep on telling them that if you do not have any protective gear or there are no safety measures in place in your surgery you cannot see the patient,” says Spokesperson Doctor Angelique Coetzee.
Coetzee says they are also advising doctors to refuse to treat patients if they do not have enough protective gear. She has recommended that doctors take lessons from other countries who are consulting their patients via videocalls.
“We are trying to keep our doctors as safe as we can by saying if it is a suspected case of corona, it is better to do a tele-consultation where you see the patient; also it lessens the fact that the patient will come into the surgery and spread the virus in your surgery … in your waiting room.”
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa has called on government to ensure that there’s sufficient protective gear for nurses against the coronavirus.
“When patients come into the hospital coughing they must be provided with the mask and therefore, it means government must provide those masks and the necessary apparatus that we always use. We are the ones that are going to confront those who are sick and admitted in hospital everyday and therefore, it is paramount for the provision of these apparatus to be provided in the public sector even the private sector,” says Denosa President Simon Hlungwani.
While South Africans are still reminded to practice good hygiene and washing their hands for 20 seconds, Hlungwani says they are concerned about the lack of provision of clean water in communities. They want government to ensure every village has clean running water.
Travel ban
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday announced drastic measures to reduce the impact of the virus in the country. Some of the measures include a travel ban on foreign nationals from high-risk countries as well as discouraging South Africans from travelling to high-risk countries and visa cancellation for visitors from high-risk countries.
In the video below President Cyril Ramaphosa announces a travel ban in South Africa:
