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NURSES DECRY MAVUSO PAVILIONS ‘POOR’ VENTILATION

By BONGIWE DLAMINI | 2021-01-18

COULD the lack of ventilation at the Mavuso Exhibition and Trade Centre pavilions be a contributing factor to the rising COVID-19 deaths?

This is a question being asked by many concerned citizens after nurses deployed at the Mavuso Quarantine Centre claimed that the lack of circulation of fresh air has something to do with the high number of people who die from the coronavirus.

The nurses revealed this a day after they engaged the management responsible for the centre about the litany of pressing issues that they need to be addressed.

Insiders revealed to this publication that lately, the Mavuso Centre admits critical COVID-19 patients only, instead of the asymptomatic ones that, when the facility was opened in May 2020, were intended to be housed there.

The sources said this change started when the second wave hit the country late last year.

Asymptomatic

Worth noting is that in May 2020, four pavilions; two for each gender, were opened to be used as wards to house asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.

These pavilions were partitioned and furnished with hospital beds, where about 100 patients were to be admitted as each pavilion accommodated approximately 35 beds.

However, at the time, Dr. Adman Shabangu, a Senior Medical Officer responsible for overseeing operations at the Mavuso Centre, said an additional 35 beds could be added in the event that more patients needed to be admitted.

Even so, when the second wave hit the country, statistics of confirmed cases sky-rocketed, resulting in a high need for patients to be admitted.

This was done but as time went by, the high numbers proved to be way more than the health system could handle. Therefore, some changes were made including exploring other places to be used as COVID-19 wards, and the admission of only critical patients in the health facilities including the Mavuso quarantine centre.

Statistics

According to the Mavuso-based nurses, this posed a number of negative impacts, such as the increased deaths of patients. Since the second wave hit the country, insiders said an average of six patients die on a daily basis at the centre. The nurses said these statistics are alarming.

Therefore, they opined that since the centre is full with minimal space for nurses to effectively do their work, they believe that if some of the patients could be moved to the National Tuberculosis Hospital wing that has been recently revamped to house COVID-19 patients, the death statistics might subside.

“Due to the fact that the centre is crowded with critically ill patients, there is a high chance of them re-infecting each other, which could be detrimental, especially to those that already have compromised immune systems,” the source said.

Furthermore, they said these deaths traumatise them, but in addition to the strenuous work that they do, the government does not offer psychological therapy for them.

On another note, the nurses said while the wards are crowded, there is a shortage of health care workers so much that each ward with about 35 patients is looked after by a single nurse per shift.

Since the patients are critical and need more special attention, the available nurse has more work to do over her shift, which results to that, more often than not, they work overtime. Instead of working eight hours, each health care worker was said to sometimes end up working 10 hours per shift.

For this, the nurses said they want government to pay them risk allowances because they hardly have time off duty.

Another issue that the health practitioners raised was that of the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), which they need to protect themselves from contracting the virus.

Exposed

Currently, a number of the nurses have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 as they were exposed to the deadly virus while on duty.

“Having more of us being in isolation further stretches the available ones, as they remain to do more work,’’ a nurse said.

On Wednesday, the nurses said their unit committee met with the centre’s management to inform them about these issues, which they want to be addressed soon. The government was given a seven-day ultimatum to address them.

If government fails to do so, the nurses vowed to down tools until their safety and the health of the patients is prioritised by the government.

When sought for comment Director of Health Services Dr. Vusi Magagula stated that on a daily basis, he is in constant contact with the centres and such information has not yet reached him.

“I would encourage the nurses to use the available structures to raise these issues. Yes, from a structural point of view, we did have concerns with the air circulation, but we couldn’t just not act on that point alone. So I would like to encourage nurses to raise these issues using proper structures,” Dr. Magagula stated.

‘20 healthcare workers test positive for COVID-19 daily’

THE Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) fully supports the Mavuso-based nurses’ decision to down tools if their critical issues are not addressed.

Speaking to this publication the SWADNU President Bheki Mamba confirmed that the lives of the Mavuso-based nurses are in danger considering the working conditions that they are subjected to.

He said on a daily basis, an average of 20 health workers in the country test positive for COVID-19 which in most cases they contract while in the line of duty.

With so much health practitioners being isolated, Mamba said the remaining ones are forced to work overtime, leaving them with insufficient time to rest. Also, the president stated that the shortage of health workers cripples other health institutions.

Currently, he said the Siphofaneni and Ndzevane clinics are closed to that a majority of health workers there had tested positive for CODIV-19.

In addition, the president stated that it has been a long time since nurses voiced out their grievances but the government seems not bothered.

Therefore, he said the union had already started mobilising nurses all over the country to down their tools when the ultimatum elapses without their employer acting on the presented issues.

“People are dying and no one cares. The government will realise how serious this is when we eventually shut down all the health facilities in the country,” Mamba said.

He further noted that the nurses deserve a risk allowance considering the life-threatening conditions that they work in.

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