Plans in place to deal with COVID-19

Amulti-disciplinary Outbreak Response Team for the Department of Health’s Makana Sub-district has been established to manage potential incidences of Covid-19 and the Department of Basic Education has issued guidelines for containing and managing the disease, should any learner or staff be diagnosed with it.

Grocott’s Mail this week spoke to the municipality and the Department of Health to establish what plans and precautions are in place in Makhanda for a possible incidence here of COVID-19.

Director: Public Safety and Community Services for Makana Municipality Kelello Makgoka referred our query to the Department of Health, which leads the outbreak response team. “My office is in contact with the DOH,” Makgoka said. “Only our health inspectors will form part of the response team.”

The Department of Health’s Makana Subdistrict yesterday issued its report on plans to contain and manage COVID-19 at a local level.

A multi-disciplinary Outbreak Response Team for the Makana Sub-district has been established, comprising environmental health practitioners (including Makana’s), practitioners from the Subdistrict in Maternal Child and Women’s Health, Health Promotion, Primary Health Care, Quality Assurance and Data Capture.

Also on the response team are representatives from the National Health Laboratory Service, Emergency Medical Services, the State Vet, Disaster Management, the Education Department, experts in infection control and a virologist. Also listed are a private doctor, Rhodes University, Correctional Services, the SANDF, Stenden University and 43 Air School in Port Alfred.

According to the Subdistrict’s report, clinics have been provided with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases guidelines and staff have been trained in case definition, management of suspect cases and precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease.

When there is a suspected case at a clinic, the person will be transported to Settlers Hospital for further investigation and isolation. Settlers, according to the report, has an isolation room, a sampling kit ready for suspected cases and a doctor who has undergone training in how to handle positive coronavirus cases. This doctor has trained the other health care providers in the facility.

An audit of primary health facilities had been conducted to check if the necessary equipment such as aprons, respirators, hand soap and hand rub were present and clinic supervisors and Environmental Health were busy with a readiness checklist for coronavirus at the clinics.

Health education, says the report, is ongoing and has started with the clinics. Health promotion would be conducted at schools in the Makana subdistrict from Monday 16 March and the Department of Education had been issued with guidelines for preventing and managing coronavirus in local education institutions.

Grocott’s Mail will continue to report.