Grief-stricken nurse hits at complacency
A CONCERNED nurse says while the country celebrated the easing of lockdown restrictions this week, her family was mourning the death of two family members from Covid-19 and praying for the recovery of a third.
Pritisha Brownley, from Joburg, said her family were struggling to deal with the fact that seven family members from Cape Town, who she grew up with in an extended Gujarati family home in Lenasia, had contracted Covid-19.
Brownley said her 40-year-old cousin started displaying flu-like symptoms in April and he went to a doctor who treated him with antibiotics and steroids.
She said the father of two seemed to recover a bit and continued to go out to buy food for the family.
Brownley said her cousin, who has asthma, began feeling sick again, and his sister and her niece were displaying symptoms.
All three were tested on May 22 and received positive Covid-19 results the next day.
“All three were sent home even though my cousin was coughing his lungs out. They said his oxygen saturation was maintained above 80%. He is healthy. He is 40. He must go home because they had a bed shortage,” she said.
Brownley said, at that point, her 73-year-old uncle Harilal Nana and his 72-year-old wife Narbada were isolating in their bedroom in the same home with her cousins.
She said she advised her uncle and aunt to go to the hospital, but they wanted to celebrate his 73rd birthday on the Monday.
“Overnight, on Sunday, they both were not right, and Monday morning, they were taken to the hospital. My uncle was okay, but my aunt was put on ventilation in the ICU,” said Brownley.
She said her aunt died on Saturday morning and her uncle the next evening.
At that point, her cousins were already in hospital and were not allowed to see their parents.
“The 40-year-old was put on ventilation last Thursday, and his sister was taken on oxygen to the ICU on Saturday,” she said.
Brownley said the hospital allowed them to see her aunt using FaceTime with the rest of the family.
She said her female cousin was discharged on Monday while her male cousin’s condition had deteriorated.
“We just got news that he collapsed, so they’re putting him on full mechanical ventilation,” said an emotional Brownley.
Brownley said her family were not doing well and were afraid to leave their homes to attend the funerals.
“We are going to have a virtual funeral. No one can hug and console anybody,” she said.
Brownley said family and friends connect with each other every day for prayers using the Zoom in evenings.
She said, as a person who works in the medical profession, she was angry to see people rushing to liquor stores and out of their homes. In a Facebook post, Brownley vented her frustrations with the behaviour of South Africans.“You think it’s great the lockdown has been relaxed to accommodate you.
“You can get your liquor at the bottle store, can resume your life partially, but what about me, and my family? Covid-19 attacked my family,” she said.
Brownley said they were praying for her cousin and other family members to recover.