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Dr. Bradley Naidoo was part of the team that treated South Africa’s first Covid-19 patient. (Kaveel Singh, screenshot)
- A KwaZulu-Natal doctor who was part of the team that admitted and treated the country’s first Covid-19 patient has recalled his experience.
- He said there was a lot of uncertainty a year ago when Covid-19 hit SA, and he felt fear at the time.
- According to the doctor, he was full of hope when Patient Zero was finally released from the hospital.
A doctor who was part of the team that initially admitted and treated Patient Zero in South Africa says there was a great sense of anxiety when they realized the virus had landed on South African shores a year ago.
Dr. Bradley Naidoo spoke to a small group of doctors, nurses, and health department officials at Gray Hospital in Pietermaritzburg on Friday, where Health Minister Zweli Mkhize celebrated a Covid-19 year in the country.
“I was part of the team that admitted and dealt with the first case of Covid-19 in the country. I remember it quite clearly, the weeks before our first admission, there was a lot of news abroad of a new respiratory virus that had been seized Asia.
“Initially it was thought that the virus was spreading rapidly causing a lot of infection and death. Initially we thought that, like the previous coronavirus, it would remain confined to that area,” he said.
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Naidoo said they soon realized that the virus would almost certainly end up in South Africa.
“But as news emerged of cases that occurred in other countries, including European nations and the United States, I think there was a real sense of inevitability that the Covid-19 virus would reach our shores.
“At this point, the hallways were filled with discussions about how serious the disease was, if we would contract it and if we are prepared for it. There was a real sense of anxiety, fear and trepidation in the air at this point.”
Remembering the night
Naidoo can still remember the night Patient Zero was admitted to the hospital: “I remember the night the first patient came in pretty well, it was actually my last night shift before I was scheduled to leave.
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“It was a relatively good night in the hospital and then at midnight I got a call saying that there was a case of coronavirus and that the ambulance drivers would take the case to the hospital, and that we should please open the isolation unit and please admit the patient and move on “
He said senior doctors and nurses came to help.
“I think it must have been an hour before the patient arrived, but that hour felt like a day. A million thoughts ran through my mind at that moment regarding the patient. With all the news abroad about the sick that were the patients “. , we wondered how sick this individual would be.
“Would they need ICU, would they need oxygen? What care could we give them because so little was known at the time?”
He said he was also concerned for his own safety.
“But the thoughts also passed through my own personal safety, as well as the safety of the team around us.”
He added: “So many thoughts ran through my mind, if the PPE would work, it would fail when we saw the patient, and generally I would worry about the safety of the equipment.”
Finally there was hope
Naidoo said the early days were unlike anything else.
“The early days were incredibly dynamic in the sense that things that we all took for granted, for example seeing a patient normally, taking notes, prescribing medication, blood tests, it all became a unique challenge. Many people with ideas Incredibles had to step up and find solutions to these problems.
“Simple things like every piece of stationery and paper had to stay there for infection control purposes.
“With everyone’s hard work, we managed to do very well in the first case. He was relatively [healthy] man and we managed to carry it out and I think when he was discharged everyone was relieved that there was hope to fight the coronavirus.
