South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
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Indiscriminatory in its spread, COVID-19 has engulfed communities from all social backgrounds throughout the world. While healthcare professionals work tirelessly testing for the virus and caring for patients, they too have become casualties of the pandemic. Currently the best way to attempt to curb the spread of the virus, echoed by almost all nation leaders, is to distance ourselves from one another socially or physically. ⋯ In addition, as a nation we struggle with high HIV and tuberculosis rates, malnutrition and an already overburdened healthcare system, emphasising the extreme vulnerability of our people. These factors, coupled with the fact that many of our healthcare professionals lack the necessary personal protective equipment to prevent them from contracting the virus themselves, highlight the gravity of the damaging repercussions that we may face in the coming months, after the complete national lockdown in force at the time of writing is lifted and we move towards a partial lockdown state. Nationally, there needs to be a shift in mindset towards exploring alternative technology-based preventive measures that may empower the healthcare sector in the long term and enhance social distancing.
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Comparative Study
Reintroduction of elective paediatric otolaryngology procedures in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cancelling elective clinical consultations and surgical procedures was instrumental in assisting hospitals prepare for the COVID-19 crisis. Essential bed space was made available, and it allowed mobilisation of health workers and enforced social distancing. A shift in patient-centred ethics to public health ethics was required to provide a utilitarian approach to the crisis. ⋯ Consequently, paediatric units may be at the forefront of implementing reintroduction of patient-centred elective clinical and surgical procedures. The following recommendations provide a framework to do this in a way that minimises risk to patients and clinicians. They are the first paediatric guidelines in the literature to propose a strategy to reintroduce elective surgical procedures.
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COVID-19 spreads easily between people who are in close contact, or through coughs and sneezes. As the number of cases continues to increase, healthcare workers (HCWs) are notably at risk as a result of frequency of contact with suspected cases or infected people. Use of infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies by HCWs is therefore important. We summarise the evidence from a rapid Cochrane qualitative evidence synthesis by Houghton et al. on barriers and facilitators to HCWs' adherence to IPC guidelines for respiratory infectious diseases.
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In the South African public healthcare sector, patient medical records are still written on paper and stored in filing rooms. There has been an attempt to move towards a paperless electronic system in many public healthcare facilities, but owing to lack of funding, this has been a challenge to achieve. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the virus could be transmitted through the physical manipulation of patient records by various categories of staff who handle the records with or without gloves for protection. ⋯ Upon discharge, all notes made during the patient's hospital stay, together with the discharge summary, are printed to generate a hard copy of notes for filing to avoid violation of the current national and provincial patient records policy. Doing this means that a patient will have a virtual online file through the designated app until discharge, when a physical file will be made for storage and safekeeping. It will keep physical manipulation of patient records to the minimum, and potentially assist in reducing transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus among healthcare workers.