A crew of a private ambulance service in Port Elizabeth wear personal protective equipment (PPE), on July 11, 2020 ahead of checking on a patient affected by COVID-19 coronavirus at her home. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
Gift of the Givers: Oxygen machines bring hope to EC hospitals
Gift of the Givers has handed over essential machines to several Eastern Cape Health hospitals in the fight against Covid-19.
A crew of a private ambulance service in Port Elizabeth wear personal protective equipment (PPE), on July 11, 2020 ahead of checking on a patient affected by COVID-19 coronavirus at her home. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
As the South African government continues to be perturbed by the rapid rate of COVID-19 contagion over the festive season, the Gift of the Givers in reaction to the crisis has lent a hand to one of the provinces most crippled by the coronavirus second wave – the Eastern Cape.
FIVE EC HOSPITALS RECEIVED THE OXYGEN MACHINES
The organization led by Imtiaz Sooliman on Wednesday, 30 December 2020, handed over essential continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines to several Eastern Cape Health facilities. The facilities include the Bhisho, Cecilia Makiwane, Lady Grey, SS Gida and Fort Beaufort hospital amongst others.
These are but some of the most overburdened facilities in the province which came under international scrutiny in an investigative piece by the British Broadcast Corporation (BBC) in July 2020.
A month prior to the BBC piece, the intensive care, orthopaedic outpatient and dental output patient units at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in Mdantsane were closed down by management after 79 nurses and general staff members tested COVID-19 positive.
MACHINES WERE FINANCED BY THE SOLIDARITY FUND
The 12 000 devices at Gift of the Givers’ disposal to be distributed countrywide, were financed by the Solidarity Fund, designed by the South African National Ventilator Group in collaboration with, South African Radio Astronomy Observatory. They were manufactured by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
SA RECORDS OVER 17 000 NEW CASE IN ONE DAY
The handing over comes as the National Health Department confirms the country saw an increase in over 17 700 positive cases in a 24-hour window on Wednesday – a record high for South Africa. It also represents a 33% positivity rate, which Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize says is concerning.
Furthermore, the Eastern Cape, recorded the third highest number of deaths in the country in the same 24-hour window – with 88 people losing their lives to coronavirus complications. About 4 deaths were reported in the Free State, 41 in Gauteng, 144 in Kwa-Zulu Natal, 16 in Limpopo, 7 in the Northern Cape and 165 in the Western Cape.
CPAP MACHINES OFFER HOPE TO HEALTHCARE WORKERS AND PATIENTS
“These devices are a symbol of hope, of life, after weeks of trepidation, sadness and unbridled anxiety consumed front line Health Care Workers. Hospital CEO’s, emergency medicine specialists and nursing managers eagerly await the opportunity to save the lives of deeply distressed, oxygen depleted, scared and panicked patients, doctors raving about its simplicity, versatility and efficacy”.
Imtiaz Sooliman (Gift of the Givers)
The organization has also managed to provide mattresses, pillows, scrubs, pulse oximeters, non-contact thermometers and personal protective gear amongst a slew of others, to ensure the 120-bed COVID-19 facility at Bhisho Hospital is well provided for. In addition to this the same hospital is receiving a R 3 million upgrade of doctor’s quarters. There is no indication as to when the quarters will be completed.
