FEAR and ignorance have led healthcare workers at Mpilo
Central Hospital in Bulawayo to neglect patients that suffer from other
ailments, as they now believe that every ill person who walks through the
health centre’s gates suffers from the deadly and highly contagious coronavirus
(Covid-19).
Health workers from the country’s major hospitals were up
in arms with authorities during the course of last week, as they claimed that
their lives were under undue risk because of lack of Protective Personal
Equipment (PPE).
On Friday, the Health Apex Council insisted that health
workers were not on strike after a meeting with Health Services Bipartite
Negotiating Platform held in Harare the previous day.
EcoSure, a subsidiary of Econet, owned by business mogul Mr
Strive Masiyiwa, has since offered free PPE for all doctors and nurses who
attend duties during the fight against the epidemic, while they have also
offered free Vaya transport to both nurses and doctors, so they can commute to
and from work in safe and sanitised vehicles.
In addition, they have put on the table life and health
insurance in the form of a cash benefit of $500 per day, for each day of
hospitalisation, and a lump sum benefit of $50 000 in the event of permanent
disability and eventual death caused by any accident of any health worker
during this period.
In an interview with Sunday News, Mpilo Central Hospital
Clinical Director Dr Solwayo Ngwenya said health workers had been turning away
patients in fear that they might have Covid-19.
“We have a worry about health workers turning away people
from hospitals. I have been saying that there will be ignorance leading to
chaos leading to mass deaths and this is already happening.
“We have a situation whereby health workers are now
labelling everyone as a Covid-19 patient and this is going to kill people
unnecessarily,” he said.
Dr Ngwenya said they had tried to educate health workers at
the institution but had not made much headway, as they already had made their
minds up.
“This morning (Friday) the CEO (chief executive officer)
and I at Mpilo tried to have an educational talk with members of staff and they
appear not to be receptive to any educational changes.
“They have made up their mind that every patient in
Zimbabwe is a Covid-19 patient which is quite grossly ignorant on its own. So
yes, indeed this is a fear that I have always had.
“People with normal illnesses are going to be neglected,
and already they are being neglected and they will die unnecessarily. So
unfortunately, my prediction of chaos and ignorance without health workers
being educated as we enter this terrible epidemic is coming true,” he said.
This week, social media was awash with rumours of people
who passed away with ailments relatives or friends suspect could have been
Covid-19.
Dr Ngwenya said any patient who had not been diagnosed with
the illness could not be labelled a Covid-19 victim posthumously.
“There’s the issue of people who pass away without having
been diagnosed with the virus but their relatives suspect they might have had
it. A person who has not had a diagnosis of Covid-19 but dies will be buried as
a normal case.
“It’s not right to label people on suspicion. As I was
saying, doctors and nurses are now taking people as Covid-19 patients on
suspicion and we don’t want this to be the case.
“A person who hasn’t been diagnosed as a Covid-19 patient
should be buried in a normal way,” he said.
He encouraged people to observe hygiene and etiquette tips
that health practitioners have been preaching about in light of the deadly
virus.
“We have been encouraging people to practice basic hygiene
and to have small gatherings at funerals. They should wash their hands all the
time, avoid being near each other, avoid shaking hands and so forth. This
should be an ongoing thing whether there is a funeral or not,” he said. Sunday
News
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