Mamelodi Hospital in Pretoria made headlines in May last year when 76-year-old Martha Marais was found tied to a bench in the facility’s Accident and Emergency section. Spotlight visited the hospital to see what has changed.
South Africa will participate in a large new trial of four potential treatments for COVID-19. Marcus Low argues that the trial takes the right approach in establishing whether any of the potential treatments work.
The COVID-19 virus is spreading rapidly globally and the race is on for a vaccine to curb the respiratory infection. Adele Baleta unpacks the research and development initiatives underway.
Last year KwaZulu-Natal celebrated three districts’ achievement of the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets. But celebrations may have been premature, as new data shows that no district in KZN in fact met the targets. Spotlight visited one of the districts to investigate.
On Sunday evening President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed South Africa’s battle plan against COVID-19. We asked public health experts, political parties, health workers and civil society organisations what they thought of it.
Vula Mobile, an innovative local mobile phone App developed to help with medical referrals, will now help to make sure medical supplies and equipment donated by Gift of the Givers goes where it is needed most.
All schools in South Africa will close from Wednesday as part of South Africa’s efforts to reduce transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Kathryn Cleary rounds up what we do and do not know about the virus in children.
How might COVID-19 exacerbate medicines shortages in South Africa and what measures are in place to mitigate the impact of shortages. Catherine Tomlinson investigates for Spotlight.
Professor Lynn Morris interim director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has a lifetime of experience fighting viruses. She has encountered HIV, Ebola, TB, Listeria, Klebsiella, a multitude of ‘lesser’ pathogens and now COVID-19. However, she thinks that COVID-19, the name given for the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, presents one of the greatest challenges yet to both South Africa and the world.
Shortly after Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced South Africa’s latest tally of 13 confirmed COVID-19 cases – Spotlight got a glimpse of the isolation unit at Tygerberg Hospital where three patients are currently in isolation and awaiting test results to see if they are infected.
When Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku was sworn in last year, he committed to turn the department around – a department the Gauteng premier described as ‘on its knees’. Spotlight sat down with Masuku to talk about staff morale, COVID-19, NHI, Mamelodi Hospital, and more.
The so-called “London patient” is still HIV-free, 30 months after receiving a bone marrow transplant to treat blood cancer, according to a study published on Tuesday in the Lancet HIV journal.