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HIV DESTROYED FAMILIES, THE CORONAVIRUS IS DOING SO FASTER Covid leaves children orphans CHANELLE LUTCHMAN chanelle.lutchman@inl.co.za Supplied HIV/Aids destroyed family structures and now Covid-19 is doing the same. Young children are being left without a mother or father. In some cases, they’re being orphaned. Sixteen-year-old Hadara Veeraragudu from Moorton in Chatsworth lost her mom on January 4 this year. Her mother, Dhanalutchmee Veeraragudu, 51, died in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 and her remains were cremated at the Clare Estate Crematorium two days later. Six days after the cremation, Hadara lost her father, Vernon Ian Veeraragudu, 54, who had also tested positive for Covid-19. He was cremated on Monday at Clare Estate Crematorium. Hadara also tested positive for the virus but recovered. However, without her parents, she is lost.…
INFECTIONS MAY HAVE PEAKED BUT … KZN still likely to see more people die of Covid-19 CHANELLE LUTCHMAN chanelle.lutchman@inl.co.za BONGANI MBATHA African News Agency (ANA) THE good news is that KwaZulu-Natal seems to have reached the peak of new Covid-19 infections. That’s according to Professor Mosa Moshabela, head of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Covid-19 War Room and Dean of the School of Nursing and Public Health. The bad news is that the province still has the highest number of active cases and as a result, the death toll will continue to rise. Moshabela said the advanced level 3 lockdowns that President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last month had helped flatten the curve of the second wave. “We have seen a decline since the higher level of the lockdown which is good. It…
REPORTS OF OVERDOSING ON ‘MIRACLE DRUG’ Approach Sahpra for an Ivermectin research trial CHANELLE LUTCHMAN chanelle.lutchman@inl.co.za MINISTER of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize has suggested that those lobbying for the use of the drug Ivermectin approach the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) with the view to conducting a research trial. Mkhize made the comments while in Durban visiting hospitals to gauge how they were dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. Mkhize said he had been inundated with letters, emails and WhatsApp messages from people who wanted the drug to be used in the fight against Covid-19. Officially, Ivermectin has not been approved for use in humans, let alone in the fight against the coronavirus. The drug was developed in 1975 to kill parasites in animals. In South Africa it has…
FEARS OF INCREASED INFECTIONS Asking teachers to return to schools early ‘sending them to their deaths’ CHANELLE LUTCHMAN chanelle.lutchman@inl.co.za TEACHER unions have criticised government’s decision to ask teachers and staff to return to schools earlier than pupils. Reginah Mhaule, Basic Education Deputy Minister, said last Friday that school management teams would report for duty on Monday, teachers on February 1 and pupils on February 15. Pupils were initially expected to return to school on January 27. Private schools, which have already reopened for the 2021 academic year, would have to abide by the amended dates. “They will need to postpone their reopening to a later date. This is to provide relief to the health system, which is already struggling to cope with demands,” said Mhaule. Cynthia Barnes, National Teachers’ Union…
STAYING CONNECTED Helping families keep in touch POST REPORTER Pexels.com ON MONDAY, Netcare launched a Family Connect Line to keep Covid-19 patients in contact with their loved ones. Dr Richard Fried-land, chief executive of Netcare, said: “The significant surge in people with Covid-19 infections requiring hospitalisation has forced us to focus our attention primarily on optimising our clinical resources to provide the best and safest care possible for all patients.” He said as a result of the strain on their resources, communication with patients’ loved ones had at times been affected. “We understand that the hospitalisation of a loved one can be very stressful and anxiety provoking for the next-of-kin, especially during this time when, in order to mitigate the risk of the virus spreading in our hospitals, visitation has…
OXYGEN MACHINES ARE LIFE SAVERS Donation gives Covid patients breath of hope POST REPORTER Supplied IN ITS bid to help the fight against Covid-19, the Willowton Group, one of Africa’s leading edible oil processors, donated R1.5 million to the Gift of the Givers in Pietermaritzburg yesterday. According to the group, the donation will be used for the purchase of 20 urgently needed High-Flow Nasal Oxygen (HFNO) machines which are lifesavers for many Covid-19 patients. Ismat Mahomed, the group’s corporate social responsibility manager, said: “These oxygen delivery systems have the capacity to deliver between 60 litres and 100 litres a minute in emergency settings equipped with bulk oxygen tanks.” Mahomed said the machines would be placed in hospitals overwhelmed by the numbers of critically-ill Covid-19 patients flooding casualty departments. He also…
