Nobude Ngqola is 82 years old and lives in a leaking shack with her eight children. She has been terrified to leave her shack ever since she heard about COVID-19. Siyabonga Kamnqa visited her to talk about life under lockdown, her COVID-19 fears as an older person and her hopes that a house will improve her situation.
Doctors in North West province say that only around half of the medicines on the province’s essential drugs list are currently available and that this is severely impacting the level of care they can provide. UFRIEDA HO reports.
What the models predict about COVID-19. But beware – soothsaying has a checkered history.
As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in KwaZulu-Natal increases, provincial health authorities, health practitioners and public health activists urge residents to avoid the spread of misinformation fuelling stigma around COVID-19. Nomfundo Xolo investigates.
This is the fourth issue of COVID-19 Report. We point you to the latest quality science on the pandemic. If you come across unfamiliar terms, there is a glossary at the bottom of the article.
By Tuesday 19 May the Free State has conducted 19 834 COVID-19 tests. The province recorded 165 confirmed cases, 118 recoveries and six deaths. Spotlight spoke to MEC for Health Montseng Tsiu and Head of the Free State Health Department Dr David Motau about the province’s COVID-19-response.
Tuberculosis (TB) testing rates are down by almost half and dramatically fewer TB patients are starting treatment. Kathryn Cleary takes an in-depth look at the impact of COVID-19 and the lockdown on TB services in South Africa.
As the confirmed number of COVID-19 infections in South Africa climbs toward 20 000, a group of 80 leading academics, teachers and researchers have written to President Cyril Ramaphosa to urge reform of South Africa’s Patents Act. We republish the letter in full.
COVID-19 and South Africa’s lockdown has impacted the lives of people living with disabilities in ways that may not be immediately obvious. Biénne Huisman spoke to three people living with different disabilities about how their lives have changed.
At the beginning of May, South Africa entered Level 4, the second phase of its National COVID-19 lockdown. Spotlight spoke to various health experts about the rationale behind some level 4 regulations.
Professor Feroza Motara remembers how she felt when the Minister of Health announced in February that the hospital where she works would become a designated COVID-19 hospital. Melissa Javan interviewed her about life and work on the frontlines of South Africa’s COVID-19 response.
Many types of surgery are being delayed in South African hospitals. HIV and TB testing rates are down. Kathryn Cleary investigates the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on ‘normal’ healthcare in South Africa.