The inevitability of the spread of COVID-19 to our community and the lack of health systems preparedness became increasingly apparent to us over the past 2 weeks. We got worried, really worried.
Worried about the impact of a COVID-19 outbreak on a community already grappling with a quadruple burden of disease, including widespread HIV and TB. Worried about the ability of an already fragile health system to cope with this additional demand. Worried about the socio-economic impacts of a COVID-19 outbreak on a community largely dependent on migrant labour and government grants. And worried that rural healthcare facilities and healthcare workers would remain at the bottom of the priority list.
And then we decided the only rational, ethical and responsible thing we could do was to kick into action and be proactive about implementing preparedness measures at our hospital and surrounding health facilities.
The Tintswalo/Wits COVID Response Team is a group of healthcare workers, volunteers, and colleagues from Tintswalo, the Tshemba Foundation and the MRC/Wits-Agincourt that have rallied together to respond to this need.
We’re hoping to achieve the following key objectives:
To develop a comprehensive and pragmatic plan with guidelines and protocols so that healthcare workers at the clinics and hospitals in Bushbuckridge know what to do when the crisis hits
To make sure we have enough bed capacity to care for all the patients that need hospital-based care
To make sure we have enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers to work safely
Based on the best available estimates it looks like we have about 2 weeks to get our clinics and hospitals prepared before we start seeing large numbers of patients with COVID-19 related illness.
Saturday the 21st March - Human Right's Day - was also the first day the Tintswalo/Wits-COVID Response Team spent painting and renovating the old pastor's house to create a COVID Isolation Ward.
A week and a half later we have:
Set up a Strategic Working Group.
Developed a comprehensive Strategic Plan and delegated Key Work Packages (stay tuned to hear more about our Key Work Packages...)
Obtained the support and buy-in of the MRC/Wits-Agincourt, the Tshemba Foundation and Tintswalo management.
Met with representatives from Bushbuckridge Subdistrict, Ehlanzeni District and Mpumalunga Province to coordinate our response.
Been working day and night through the week (and weekend) to adapt NICD, DOH, NHLS and WHO guidelines to our local context, to make sure we can implement them in a rural and low-resource setting.
Set up a Back-a-Buddy Fund to help us obtain the necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other resources to do this work.
If you want to hear more about how our work progresses please do sign-up to our blog page and like and share our Facebook Page.
All best wishes
Bianca & the Tintswalo/Wits COVID Response Team
