Manzini pays homage to healthcare workers

TODAY’S PRESENTATION IS A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO OUR COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE WORKERS, OUR SECURITY GUARDS AND OUR CLEANERS

The Mpumalanga health MEC, Sasekani Manzini, has paid homage to all the front line workers of the department who continue to stand resolute and always on call in the fight against the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Manzini saluted these brave workers during the official tabling of her policy and budget speech last week.

“The 2020/21 policy statement of the Department of Health in Mpumalanga is dedicated to the front line workers of the department who are our heroes and heroines. They refuse to be despondent because the weather is bad and continue to display unmatched courage and resilience during these trying times when Covid-19 continues to test the capacity of our health system and our strength as a nation.

Today’s presentation is a special tribute to our community healthcare workers, our security guards, our cleaners, our auxiliary nurses, our nurses, our doctors, our allied health workers, our general workers and each and every employee of our department who continues to make a valuable contribution and ensures increased access to healthcare for our people.” She continued by saying that the story of Covid-19 would not be a complete version when told many years to come, without mentioning the frontline workers.

“It was the great German philosopher, Karl Marx, who taught us that, ‘Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past’.

It is my considered view that the healthcare workers of this country are making history not under conditions of their choice, but those chosen for them by the global pandemic.

“When the story of Covid-19 is told to future generations alongside the many events which have disrupted and changed the world like the First World War, The Great Depression and the Second World War, that story will be incomplete without mentioning the heroic deeds of front line health workers who risk their lives to save the lives of others.

“No amount of words can adequately describe the gratitude of the masses towards healthcare workers of this country for their heroic and history making deeds during these trying times.

“Asante Sana, front line health workers! Thank you for refusing to be despondent because the weather is bad,” she continued.

She said the coronavirus has brought panic, anxiety, horror, insecurity and grief, not only in the country but around the world.

“I speak to our people not because I have all the answers to their insecurities and anxieties, but as carrier of a message of hope and their humble servant who refuses to be despondent. “As a province, our fight against

Covid-19 has been an intense one and our strategy is mainly on active identification of cases through community screening, contact tracing and testing, isolation and quarantine, which our dedicated and committed front line healthcare workers have led. “This has been the most effective effort in our fight against the global pandemic. It has helped us in making sure that we contribute towards government’s fight against Covid-19 as we curb the spread of the virus and flatten the curve. As a department, together with our healthcare workers we have worked tirelessly to put all the measures in place to ensure that we put the lives of our people first,” stressed Manzini.

As of June 30, the province has screened more than 4,4 million people with a total 1 004 positive cases and 329 recoveries.

Thus far, the province has recorded two deaths, one in the

City of Mbombela and the other in Bushbuckridge, which was diagnosed in Gauteng. The current epicentre is Emalahleni municipality with 34% (192/570) of the cases followed by other hotspot municipalities such as Govan Mbeki with 17% (99/570), City of Mbombela 13% (72/570) and Steve Tshwete with 11% (60/570).

The status of epicentres is not static as it is influenced by the caseload at any given time and therefore changes from time to time.