AdventHealth Hendersonville is adjusting visiting hours and restrictions in response to the Omicron variant surge. To ensure the safety of patients, visitors and team members, AdventHealth Hendersonville adjusted hospital visiting
As the third wave of Covid-19 infections continues in Gauteng, hospitals remain
under severe strain. Gauteng Premier David Makhura this week in a statement
said hospital admissions continue to rise and are placing “a heavy strain on
the healthcare system in both public and private sectors”. While signs are that
infections have peaked in the province, admissions and deaths have not - the
latter two typically peak a few weeks later than infections.
Add
to this the ongoing unrest in certain areas in Gauteng, and it makes for a very
grim picture.
Makhura
this week said many vaccination sites were impacted in the affected areas and
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The elderly woman who was pleading for help, in a widely shared video taken at Wentworth Hospital, has died.
Rowena Hawkey (69) is seen in the clip seemingly in extreme respiratory anguish, pleading for assistance. Patients are shown lying on the floor and hunched in chairs with no help being administered by medical staff.
Hawkey is shown shouting, I can t breathe! Please get me out of here. Hello, hello. Please get this [indistinguishable]. I m going to die like this. This tube here, please give it to me. I ve asked everybody to help me. No one wants to help me. nobody. I can t live like this, she cries.
A report from the hospital was also imminent, department spokesperson Agiza Hlongwane added.
Shortage of staff
Simelane-Zulu said the patients filmed were awaiting their Covid-19 results, also known as Patients Under Investigation (PUIs). On the day in question, the hospital had received a particularly high number of patients, she said. Additionally, 11 doctors were away in isolation, after testing positive. A further 17 nursing staff were off, due to Covid-19. Six nurses were in charge of the Accidents and Emergency Unit, as well as a 28-bed short stay ward with very sick patients.
Simelane-Zulu said the delegation from the department has since assisted the hospital to ensure that patient flow is managed properly.