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COVID-19 challenges and strategies — SA academic hospital

Six months after South Africa’s first confirmed case of the deadly COVID-19 virus – which spread across the country and has so far infected more than 655,500 people and killed more than 15,700 – medical professionals at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital have offered rare insights into the challenges they faced and the lessons learnt.

These ranged from delays in creating COVID-19-designated areas for patient treatment and shortages in personal protective equipment to the time taken for test results to come back due to a lack of on-site diagnostic testing.

A team of six of the country’s specialists at the hospital detailed their experiences with the virus that has upended even the most sophisticated healthcare systems across the world. “Since the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern, the institution (Charlotte Maxeke) has been designated a COVID-19 facility in Gauteng. At that stage, all staff members were novices in the activities that lay ahead,” the authors noted.

“However, compared with primary- or secondary-level institutions, it was assumed that this institution would be better equipped to handle this novel infectious disease in view of the specialists, sub-specialists and more advanced facilities available at the hospital.”

Charlotte Maxeke is affiliated to Wits University and is a teaching hospital that has 1 100 beds and more than 4 000 professional support staff.

Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in a global pandemic within months following its initial detection. South Africa (SA), like many other countries, was not prepared for the impact this novel infection would have on the healthcare system. In this paper, the authors discuss the challenges experienced while facing COVID-19 at a tertiary-level institution in Gauteng province, SA, and the dynamic strategies implemented to deal with the epidemic.

Authors
T Thomas, A E Laher, A Mahomed, F Motara, M Mer

 

[link url="https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/six-months-on-what-are-the-biggest-lessons-covid-19-taught-sas-doctors-20200920"]Full City Press report[/link]

 

[link url="http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/13052"]SA Medical Journal abstract[/link]

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