After the Grand Prix I will let you in on what’s been going on in the last 10 days.....
I don’t have any more words left now. @robertmarawa was generous with his platform several months ago, nothing changed.
And then we saw @simtatsi addressing mourners at his father’s funeral, cautioning about Covid 19. Nothing changed...
From when we admitted the first Covid 19 patient, my fear has always been contracting the virus and infecting my family. Prolonged exposure to the virus comes with the job.
That’s why irresponsible behaviour during this period makes me see red. I have no choice but to be exposed daily, people who have a choice are gallivanting like there’s no pandemic.
I was able to hold out for 9 months, but during this spell all but one ward was Covid 19. Staff testing positive left right and centre, with wards closed to admissions.
Mass testing of staff then followed, that’s when I tested positive for Covid 19....
Now my biggest fear is close to becoming reality. I’m scared for my wife and son.
They were tested the following day and both negative. Inathi then started his self isolation. His mother has been working from home since the first lockdown.
The fear, waking up every day not knowing which symptoms would surface. Being Black, Asian and minority ethnic, also a health care worker, my risk level is high.
Only for two days I felt the cold (ngqele) in the bones, mine was in the knees. Besides an occasional cough as well, there has been nothing else
But me being me, I get in touch with @Sweet_Diddles Dr Mafuya. She’s clinical as usual and tells me what to do. Does @Cmfundisi not tell me that she would post ukhula to me 😂😂😂
While this is happening, a friend has lost his mother, a friend is being admitted while we’re willing each other on and counting our days. He’s now in ICU. U Dadobawo was buried yesterday.
The strongest medication I’ve ever taken was Sibelium in 2002, Dr Jam-Jam prescribed it. That was no run of the mill headache. For the flu, it’s always Flusin S. I’m not a medication person.
My broker told me to strap onions on my chest and steam (futha) with euca nton nton. I was in tears listening to that voice note.
Friend and neighbours came through, dropping off milk and groceries at the door.
With working for almost a year without a holiday, I took this time as my rest. Tomorrow it’s back to the grind.
This started in China, has spread to the rest of the world with mass devastation. If you don’t see that changing your behaviour will get us over this quicker, then we are FUCKED!!!!
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
“Nkosi Thandisizwe Diko is an “impostor” who misrepresents the AmaBhaca nation and lies about being a king to amass wealth for himself through political connections. This is according to the AmaBhaca royal family, which has distanced itself from the 41-year-old.”
“Diko, who is the husband of Khusela Diko, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, made headlines recently after it emerged that his company, Royal Bhaca Projects,
scored a tender from the department of health in Gauteng for personal protective equipment (PPE) amounting to R125 million.”
“THE Gauteng Department of Health has paid Royal Bhaca Projects at least R80 million for its personal protective equipment (PEE) services over the past week alone through a front company known as Ledla Structural Development, Independent Media can reveal.”
“The money was channelled through Ledla in 12 tranches of between R120000 and R38m after the company invoiced for items that bear a striking resemblance in value,quantity and pricing to the ones supplied by Royal Bhaca, according to payment records,official documents and sources”
“It’s unclear whether the R80m payment was the balance or a portion of the R125m contract controversially awarded to King Madzikane ll Thandisizwe Diko, the husband of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko, in March.”
“SA has already been hit hard by the impact of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown declared by the government, but indications are the worst may still be to come for the Eastern Cape, even as it appears to be business as usual for most people on the streets of the metros,
towns and rural villages of the province.”
“Monday marks 80 days since “patient zero”, the first infection recorded in the province. Since then, 101 people have died.”
“The private health-care system seems to be buckling under the pressure as Covid-19 cases rise in the province, and reports of a shortage of beds at Life St Dominic’s have surfaced.”
“According to three nurses who work at the hospital, a shortage of beds has resulted in Covid-19 patients and non-Covid patients being cramped up in the hospital’s only casualty ward.”
“They said the hospital was continuing to admit patients even though it had reached its capacity.”
“The Eastern Cape health system is reeling as health workers fearing for their own safety refuse to treat Covid-19 patients, putting added pressure on state and private hospitals scrambling to meet requirements ahead of an expected spike in coronavirus cases.”
“On Friday, Frere Hospital in East London was ordered to immediately shut down over concerns that measures for stopping Covid-19 — including access control —
were inadequate, and the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) believes this situation is only the “tip of the iceberg”.
“On 9 March, a patient who had recently traveled to Europe and had symptoms of COVID-19 visited the emergency department of St Augustine’s, a private hospital in Durban, South Africa.”
“Eight weeks later, 39 patients and 80 staff linked to the hospital had been infected, and 15 patients had died—fully half the death toll in KwaZulu-Natal province at that time.”
“Now, scientists at the University of KwaZulu-Natal have published a detailed reconstruction of how the virus spread from ward to ward and between patients, doctors, and nurses, based on floor maps of the hospital, analyses of staff and patient movements, and viral genomes.”