Netcare's St Augustine's Hospital in Durban has been closed by the KwaZulu-Natal Health, except for a single ward where existing COVID-19 patients are being treated, writes MedicalBrief.
MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal, Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu, said the department had been told that the hospital had not taken the necessary safety and preventative measures. The Exco had called for in-depth investigation so that their could be an understanding of what actually happened and what led to such a high number of infections and deaths.
This follows the death of 5 patients who were asymptomatic upon admission and this week's diagnosis of a further 66 people (48 staff and 18 patients) with COVID-19.
National Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize earlier had said he was concerned about the developments at the hospital. "Sixty-six people test positive over the past few days. About 48 of them are staff. The provincial department is engaging with the hospital with the view of closing parts of the hospital down," he said. Mkhize said he hoped that fumigation at the hospital would start soon.
"We have also assigned specialists there. We must always be on the lookout. The infection can seep in from any institution. We must now trace all the contacts. It is a matter of serious concern and we are dealing with it," Mkhize said.
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) had earlier called for the hospital to shut its doors immediately, reports The Times. Denosa provincial secretary Mandla Shabangu said: “We think that the hospital must be closed down because many people are infected and we don’t see management taking responsibility and protecting their employees and all those in there.
"They are still wanting to operate as normal and we will not allow this. We are calling for the complete closure of the hospital, not just parts of it. The entire hospital must close and be fumigated.”
In an update on the situation at Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital
Netcare said that it assured South Africans that safeguarding each and every person in its care, staff members, doctors and others who work at Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital, as well as in all other Netcare hospitals, against COVID-19 and other infections has, and will always be, of paramount importance.
“We are deeply saddened that, despite our very best efforts and precautions, there have been a total of four COVID-19 associated deaths at Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital in Durban, since the outbreak started in South Africa,” says Dr Richard Friedland, CEO of the Netcare Group.
“As a healthcare group that holds the sanctity of life above all else, every death is one too many. At this tragic time, we wish to express our heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of the people who passed away. They are in our thoughts and prayers.
“In addition, we want to assure the people of South Africa that we are sparing no effort or cost to keep every person in our care as well as our staff and doctors as safe as possible,” Friedland added.
“Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital has a total of 15 pre-existing community acquired COVID-19 patients in its dedicated COVID-19 isolation units at present. Of these patients, we can confirm that one person has already recovered and tested negative and is expected to be discharged shortly.
“Of the staff and doctors tested, we confirm that 47 people who are connected with our hospital have tested positive for COVID-19. Of the 47 positive cases, 33 are in self-isolation and a further 14 are being accommodated by Netcare to ensure that they are able to safely self-quarantine. Of those who tested positive, one person has since tested negative following his period of self-quarantine and has since returned to work.
Two of the greatest challenges associated with COVID-19 is that those infected do not always have symptoms, and that it is highly infectious. Even in the presence of extensive and effective infection prevention measures, such as those in place within Netcare hospitals, any building where people are brought together poses a potential risk for infection.
“Unfortunately, with COVID-19 people can transmit the virus before they show symptoms that can be screened for, and where one person is contagious the virus can very quickly spread to others. For this reason, among other precautions Netcare took the extraordinary measure some weeks ago of suspending visiting and public entry to its hospitals except for in specific exceptional circumstances and closed its pharmacies and coffee shops.
“The ideal would be if all healthcare facilities could test, and not just screen, every person coming into our hospitals, and to do that on a repeat basis as some may at first test negative. The reality in South Africa, however, makes this impossible, so the risk remains of COVID-19 entering our hospitals, and any other hospitals, in this way despite our best efforts to prevent this from happening,” Friedland noted.
“We wish to provide comfort and assurance to staff, patients, doctors and the community that we are working tirelessly to ensure additional precautionary and preventative measures are in place to contain the spread of COVID-19,” he said.
These measures include:
The hospital’s emergency department was closed on the evening 2 April 2020 and all planned surgery and admissions cancelled until further notice.
The process to completely decontaminate and disinfect the entire hospital through deep cleaning began on 2 April 2020 and remains ongoing. As an additional precaution terminal cleaning using a high dosage of chlorine, followed by disinfection with the aid of ultra-violet disinfection robots is being done. This will be completed by tomorrow.
There are a total of 1 982 people working on the campus of Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital, inclusive of healthcare workers, nurses, contractors and doctors. More than half of these individuals have already been swabbed. Thus far, a total of 504 people have tested negative and we are awaiting the results of a further 318 people. These results are reported on a daily basis to the head of the KZN Department of Health’s (DOH) COVID-19 task team.
As a further precaution, Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital has been contacting all patients who were treated at the emergency department or admitted into the hospital as from 1 March 2020. This is to determine if any of these patients require any further investigation or testing.
A dedicated 24-hour communication channel to manage queries as well as to answer other concerns which our patients may have, has been set up.
Individuals who have visited Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital or have been in hospital since 1 March 2020 are welcome to contact us on our 24-hour helpline on 0800 111 266 if they have not as yet heard from the hospital.
COVID-19 symptomatic screening of all persons working in the hospital is continuing on a daily basis, as some individuals could be asymptomatic but start showing symptoms in following days. Where indicated by the screening, swabbing and testing is then carried out. The aim of this is to identify, as early as possible, any persons who may be infected, in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
All screening and testing is being done in close consultation and collaboration with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health.
The Netcare clinical team is working closely with Professor Salim Karim, a special adviser to the Minister of Health, and a team of epidemiology and infectious diseases specialists from the University of KZN, to fully investigate the underlying cause and nature of this outbreak.
Friedland noted that contrary to certain misleading claims, staff members and doctors at Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital and all other Netcare facilities have all been provided with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) on an ongoing basis.
“No Netcare facility has ever expected of a staff member to work without appropriate PPE. Our PPE policy includes a directive on the wearing of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic which is, in fact, more conservative in that it provides greater protection than the current recommendations and guidelines of two highly respected health organisations, namely the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
“In addition, we have re-trained over 16 750 healthcare workers, other staff members and doctors on the appropriate and correct use of personal protective equipment, and compliance in this regard is being closely monitored.
“Since the spread of infections began as a result of two patients, who were admitted for other medical reasons and initially had no travel history or symptoms of COVID-19 but subsequently tested positive, we have been in close consultation with the KZN Health Department and the NICD and continue to strictly follow their guidance and instructions,” said Friedland.
“We fully understand and empathise with the concerns regarding the serious situation at Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital and we wish to assure patients, staff, doctors and the community that all efforts and resources are being directed at containing the outbreak and keeping everyone safe.
“All the findings from the in-depth investigation will be fully assessed and used to strengthen and further improve existing processes and protocols. These will be shared across the group and with all other involved and interested parties,” noted Friedland.
“We wish to acknowledge Professor Salim Karim, a special adviser to the Minister of Health, a team of epidemiology and infectious diseases specialists from the University of KZN and the Netcare clinical team who are investigating the underlying cause and nature of the COVID-19 outbreak at Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital for their exceptional dedication and efforts in rendering assistance to us at this time.
“As we have seen globally, COVID-19 is a highly virulent and contagious virus. However, we are confident that, given all of the measures and precautions that we have and, continue to, put in place, that we will contain the spread of this deadly virus.
“Our deep and heartfelt thanks go to all our healthcare workers, nurses and doctors and their families and loved ones for their incredible efforts under these very trying and challenging circumstances. We salute their efforts and remain deeply grateful to them all,” Friedland said.
Issued by MNA on behalf of Netcare
A paediatric nurse at one of Cape Town’s largest private hospitals has been hospitalised after she tested positive for COVID-19. The 55-year-old was admitted to another hospital this week. The Athlone resident is believed to be a night supervisor at a paediatric unit. According to a Cape Argus report, she was infected by a close relative who had travelled to Turkey and she unknowingly continued to work until she start showing symptoms.
Also, paramedics in one of Cape Town's busiest city districts downed tools after two colleagues who came into contact with a COVID-19 patient remained on duty. As many as 16 ambulances from the Southern District Emergency Medical Services located in Mitchells Plain refused to attend calls until the two female staff members had been sent home. The group said they had been notified that the crew had transported a patient in Mitchells Plain whose test came back positive on Friday, but they were still on duty.
Medic Bongani Mngqelana said they wanted answers from management on procedures that should be followed before they would attend to emergency calls. “We became worried when we found out that the patient they had transported on Tuesday tested positive and they were not contacted, but rather heard it via the grapevine,” he said.
The report says Western Cape Health authorities met the disgruntled workers who resumed the service late yesterday, despite some workers refusing to attend to calls.
A Bloemfontein doctor is in self-isolation after one of her patients tested positive for COVID-19. The Times reports that the patient showed symptoms of the respiratory illness, which is caused by the coronavirus, and the doctor referred him to hospital, where he tested positive.
Dr Nadina Wessels is quoted in the report as saying that the patient was treated at her practice in the suburb of Heidedal on 2 April. As a precaution, Wessels said she was in self-isolation at home and her practice had been closed pending her test results. However, she said she had no symptoms.
The Hibiscus Hospital in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal, has taken extra precautions against COVID-19 after one of its healthcare practitioners tested positive for the novel coronavirus, reports Polity. "The hospital was informed on 27 March that a healthcare practitioner who had worked in our hospital has subsequently tested positive. The same healthcare practitioner had tested negative two weeks earlier," Hibiscus Hospital Group CEO Richard Mills said
He said the healthcare worker had not returned to the facility since testing positive. "The worker's right to privacy and confidentiality also had to be respected." Mills said the hospital contacted Ugu District Health, the local Centre for Disease Control and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD). "They immediately provided the hospital with guidelines and management protocols to follow and they were satisfied with our response."
He said basic procedures were in place for all healthcare professionals at the hospital. "The department of health has requested (we) emphasise the importance for everyone, including healthcare practitioners, to complete, on a daily basis, the information form which is provided for the main entrance of the hospital." He added: "For this reason we have closed all other entry points besides casualty, which is open for emergencies only."
[link url="https://www.iol.co.za/mercury/news/48-staffers-test-positive-for-covid-19-at-durbans-st-augustines-hospital-partial-closure-looms-46398530"]Full report in The Mercury[/link]
[link url="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-04-08-close-down-st-augustines-hospital-immediately-says-union-after-66-people-test-positive-for-covid-19/"]Full report in the Times[/link]
[link url="http://capeargus.pressreader.com/@Lucille_Faro.6/csb_koSi_QUVATRdGOVVoGTmYAW726ZiS5no7qCrVZWlq6C_sJLe5u2BFmpCQxZTK3Hi"]Full Cape Argus report[/link]
[link url="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-04-06-bloemfontein-doctor-in-isolation-after-patient-tests-positive-for-covid-19/"]Full report in The Times[/link]
[link url="https://www.polity.org.za/article/healthcare-practitioner-at-kzn-hospital-tests-positive-for-covid-19-2020-04-06"]Full Polity report[/link]