South Africa’s Health Department is investigating allegations that patients in isolation at Durban’s Clairwood Hospital were being served stale food containing maggots, says a Daily News report. Patients, some of whom have been in isolation for more than 14 days after being diagnosed with the coronavirus, took to social media to complain about the food they were being served.
They complained that the food “is so bad”, but they do not have any other option because their families do not have permits to travel to the hospital to give them food. “We do not have the symptoms yet, but we are in isolation because we have tested positive with COVID-19. The diagnosis itself is scary; we do not know what to expect and we don’t know when the virus is going to strike. “I am certain that we would have to eat right to fight the virus. We got the shock of our lives to discover maggots in the food,” said another patient.
The report says three of the patients in the isolation ward tested positive out of the 50 people who had come into contact with a Durban teacher who died of COVID-19 two weeks ago.
Health Department spokesperson Ntokozo Maphisa said the department was “extremely disturbed and concerned” about the matter, which was now under investigation by management of the eThekwini health district, which oversees the functioning of Clairwood Hospital.
“The application of consequence management and implementation of measures to prevent a recurrence of this isolated incident will run concurrently with this investigation. The department would like to assure the public that it will endeavour to ensure strict adherence to hygiene and the highest safety standards for patients’ food, which is paramount,” said Maphisa.
[link url="https://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/kwazulu-natal/coronavirus-patients-served-maggots-at-durban-hospital-46771923"]Full Daily News report[/link]