MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The Mossel Bay Advertiser contacted hospital spokespeople to ask about the strategies and procedures in place at hospitals in town during the lockdown.

The Mossel Bay Provincial Hospital was diverting all its resources to essential and emergency services, regional health department spokesperson Nadia Ferreira said.

She noted that all non-urgent surgery had been cancelled and specialist clinics had been postponed, with the exception of services to pregnant women.

All ultrasound or sonar appointments and non-emergency X-ray appointments had been rebooked. Ferreira said: "The hospital has a dedicated area for possible Covid-19 patients."

When asked how the hospital was approaching sanitisation, Ferreira said: "All patients are screened before entering the hospital. This is done by asking a set of questions regarding possible symptoms. Good hand hygiene is maintained by providing hand sanitiser throughout the hospital and at the entrance."

Ferreira said: "Should you have any Covid-19 symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, fever, sore throat) contact the hotline first: 021 928 4102."

Alternatively people could contact their nearest clinic.

Life Bay View
The Mossel Bay Advertiser contacted Life Bay View Private Hospital to enquire about its strategy during the lockdown and the query was referred to Adam Pyle, chief executive officer - South Africa, Life Healthcare.

Pyle responded: "As per the management of any other infections, our hospitals have dedicated Infection Prevention Specialists who are experienced and qualified healthcare workers and together with all our clinical healthcare workers, have received training and guidelines on Covid-19 according to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) and World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

"We are ensuring the risk of infection of all patients, employees, doctors, and visitors to our hospitals is reduced through general Covid-19 screening before they enter our facilities. This includes the provision of hand sanitisers and a brief verbal questions on their travel history and wellness/health.

Non-emergency operations postponed
Asked if non-emergency operations had been postponed, Pyle noted: "We are following the guidelines put out by the South African Society of Anaesthetists which state that normal elective surgery should be postponed under the current circumstances."

Pyle noted that all visiting hours for general wards, ICU and High Care units had been suspended.

Also:

• Nursery and NICU: One parent at a time will be allowed to visit newborns. The parent will be subject to strict screening criteria prior to hospital admission.
• Paediatric wards: Only one parent at a time will be permitted to sleep in with an admitted paediatric patient. The parent will be subject to strict screening criteria prior to hospital admission.
• Critically ill patients: On Tuesday, 7 April, Pyle said: "We are liaising with the Department of Health for purposes of applying consistent practices in the entire hospital sector. Once those practices are agreed, we will be in a position to facilitate hospital visits accordingly to critically ill patients in high care and ICU."

Covid-19 testing
When asked if someone could be tested for Covid-19 at Life Bay View, should they require it, Pyle said: "We urge members of the public who are not sick, but are concerned that they may need Covid-19 testing, to phone or consult their general practitioner or contact the National Institute for Communicable Diseases: NICD WhatsApp support line - 0600 123 456 or the NICD 24-hour hotline - 0800 029 999/ 0800 111 132."

He said testing was done by an independent pathology laboratory with referral by a doctor.

Vidamed
Vidamed Day Hospital manager Arie Kadé told the Mossel Bay Advertiser: "As a day hospital, we do not deal with casualty or emergency patients. We are licensed to do short, day procedures.

"We are on stand-by for emergencies. All non-urgent procedures have been postponed. Some of our staff, such as those in administration, are working from home.

"Our clinical staff are ready to deal with any case. We have a few sub-acute patients here that we are taking care of; if any more need to be admitted, they will be screened beforehand. We must adhere to the lockdown guidelines, so there are no visitors allowed.

"We have been screening for the Coronavirus right from the start, but have had no positive cases. If we take in any patient, we will treat them as if there is a possibility they have the virus."

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