‘Paramedics turn down Covid-19 patient’
Residents outraged as patients isolate in shacks, risking transmission of virus
VULNERABLE residents of densely populated areas have slated the Provincial Health Department’s quarantine system, saying Covid-19-positive patients who share shacks and communal taps and toilets with several people at a time are either being discharged too soon, or not removed from communities at all.
It comes after Philippi residents claimed paramedics did not transport a backyarder who tested positive for Covid-19 to hospital at the weekend.
The patient was advised to stay in his backyard shack, residents said, but then had to be rushed to hospital on Monday after his condition worsened.
Also at the weekend, four Dunoon residents who had been admitted to a facility were moved back to the informal settlement on Monday – a move ward councillor Lubabalo Makeleni said was shocking.
Buzwe Khali, a family friend of the Philippi patient, said: “He got very sick at work last week and was diagnosed with the virus on Friday. He then started to get sick on Saturday and got worse on Sunday, when he suffered from shortness of breath.
“Three ambulances responded at separate times, but all refused to transport him when they were told he was infected. We made numerous calls to the health department and were only assisted on Monday. However, by then his health had deteriorated. He had to be admitted to Groote Schuur Hospital. He could have died. We are not happy about the way things were handled.”
Philippi CPF secretary Melikhaya Gadeni said many others had suffered similar treatment. “We are aware of more than five cases of similar nature in our area, and we have been calling for vastly improved screening in our community by the health department and community health-care workers.
“We believe there is disjuncture in the work of the health department, and its tracing teams.
“Their failure to quarantine an infected person immediately is cause for concern. They are allowing them to return home where self-isolation or self-quarantine is not possible, risking the health and safety of their families and community members at large with whom they share communal taps and toilets.
“We have raised this matter with the department of health and SAPS... they need to come with a different plan,” said Gadeni.
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) spokesperson Deanna Bessick said the patient would be accommodated in a temporary quarantine facility.
“EMS officials are trained... to determine whether a patient has the prescribed Covid-19 symptoms and requires hospital transportation. If the patient meets these criteria, they will be transported.“If a person cannot safely quarantine or isolate at home, they will be accommodated in temporary quarantine facilities where they can do so safely. Someone who cannot quarantine safely at home must inform the health worker, who will then be able to make the necessary arrangements,” said Bessick.
Asked if people with whom the patient might have been in close contact would be traced, she said: “No. We only initiate contact tracing if someone has tested positive.
“However, we ask people who have
recalled representing a Mr Lee who was imprisoned pending trial after being charged with a non-violent crime.
Donen said while Lee was in prison, the matter was postponed numerous times and he had appeared in court about 70 times before he was finally acquitted and released.
While in prison, he contracted tuberculosis. He died due to his condition. “The Constitutional Court held that the Minister of Correctional Services (now the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services) was responsible for Lee having contracted tuberculosis.
“The law is clear. When prisoners die from Covid-19 due to overcrowding, the government will be responsible,” Donen said.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development refused to respond to Donen’s piece with no reasons.