Hospital staff tested after three-day strike

Update

GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - A three-day protest by health workers and other personnel at Midland Hospital in Graaff-Reinet came to an end Friday afternoon, 29 May.

The personnel demanded to be tested for Covid-19 after a colleague tested positive. They also demanded that the hospital must be decontaminated and all of them must be issued with the necessary personal protective equipment.

After three days of protesting by the staff and meetings between the hospital management and trade unions, the chief executive officer of the hospital, Marie de Vos, and doctor Damien Mabuni, head of clinical services, addressed the staff for the first time. This followed after the protesters marched through the hospital halls, demanding to be addressed.

Mabuni gave them feedback on the colleague's medical condition, telling them that she is in Livingstone Hospital in Port Elizabeth on a ventilator. On Friday, her condition was described as stable.

Mabuni then ordered all the staff to be tested for Covid-19.

De Vos assured them that the municipality on 29 May began to decontaminate the hospital. All the personnel were put under self-isolation until their test results come back. The hospital remains open, with doctors and personnel excluded from risk cases on duty.

For the safety of all visitors and patients, health practitioners monitor the fever of everybody entering the hospital. If any suspicious case is detected, the person is referred for a complete Covid-19 test.

Nehawu representatives participating in the protest.