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A medical worker wearing a mask speaks on her mobile phone inside the new coronavirus intensive care unit of the Brescia Poliambulanza hospital, Lombardy, on March 17, 2020.
Piero Cruciatti / AFP via Getty Images
- Private paramedic services are struggling to cope with the second wave of Covid-19 infections.
- Advanced life support paramedic Garrith Jamieson says Durban Central and the surrounding areas have had a large number of infections.
- He says the biggest problem paramedics faced was space in public and private facilities.
A private paramedic service in Durban says it finds the second wave “excessively difficult” as Covid-19 spreads rapidly through the city.
“Paramedics in and around Durban Central and surrounding areas find it exceedingly difficult with the second wave of Covid-19 that has hit Durban Central.
“Several patients have become ill and various ambulances have been used to transport these sick people. The biggest problem paramedics find is the minimal space in the facility to accommodate patients,” Advanced Life Support Paramedic Garrith said Monday. Jamieson.
Jamieson said patients must now be taken to their personal doctors.
“Sometimes paramedics come out to evaluate a patient, and they contact their doctor to help because the facilities are completely bypassed, both government and private facilities.”
READ ALSO | Ramaphosa will address the nation on Monday as Covid-19 cases continue to rise
He called on the citizens and residents of Durban to maintain mitigation measures.
Always wear a mask
“I recommend [that] everyone stays safe and healthy and wears a mask at all times. “
Their troubles come as President Cyril Ramaphosa prepares to address the nation at 8pm on Monday.
It will be Ramaphosa’s first “family reunion” since Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced that South Africa was in the midst of a second wave of Covid-19 infections.
As South Africans pounced on the holiday period, Mkhize and health experts warned that Covid-19 fatigue could affect the nation.
There has also been a concern that Durban’s beaches will be flooded with tourists, who come from all over the country to enjoy the beaches, a decades-long end-of-year tradition.
On Sunday, KwaZulu-Natal Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu said there were a large number of infections in public health facilities.
He warned the public and medical workers to take precautions when a second wave spreads through the province.
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