On July 22 Richard Abrahams, his wife, and three children celebrated his 65th birthday with orange cake and well-wishes. Less than a month before, Abrahams was struggling to breathe due to COVID-19 and receiving oxygen at Cape Town’s Hospital of Hope. He shared his story with Biénne Huisman.
Clinic Committees can be a powerful link between the community and primary healthcare facilities. Several clinic committee members however say they have been side-lined in South Africa’s COVID-19 response. Tiyese Jeranji reports.
Unhygienic conditions, as reported locally and internationally, at hospitals in Port Elizabeth prompted the Minister of Health, Dr Zweli Mkhize, to make a site visit to Livingstone Hospital on Wednesday. These striking pictures show the situation at the hospital before and after the visit.
The healthcare system in the Eastern Cape has been on the brink of collapse for over a decade but the health department has failed to act, writes Nontsikelelo Mpulo.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called the COVID-19 pandemic the gravest crisis in the country’s democratic history. Now, with the Western Cape and Gauteng making up nearly 64 percent of the country’s total confirmed infections, Kathryn Cleary asked departments of health in both provinces how prepared they are for the coming peak.
Stigma and discrimination makes accessing healthcare services hard for many young people living with HIV. Has it become even harder during the COVID-19 pandemic? Nomfundo Xolo spoke to young people and activists in KwaZulu-Natal.
Already at an increased risk of serious COVID-19 illness, older persons in poor communities face an additional set of difficulties in staying safe and healthy. Siyabonga Kamnqa spoke to older people, experts, civil society organisations and government authorities on what can be done to protect older people.
Hundreds of people daily search for recyclable materials to sell and food to eat at Arlington and Uitenhage waste disposal sites in Port Elizabeth. Luvuyo Mehlwana spoke to waste pickers about their fears of contracting COVID-19 from waste and to experts about the risks of this happening.
The COVID-19 epidemic in the Western Cape is at least a few weeks ahead of that in South Africa’s other provinces. Some leading doctors in the province have shared some key lessons learned in recent months.
The recent suspension of Professor Ebrahim Variava and the subsequent lifting of his suspension briefly placed the North West Department of Health in the national spotlight – a department that has been under administration for over two years. Marcus Low asks whether the latest developments are just a blip on the department’s road to recovery, or are they symptomatic of still deeply entrenched dysfunction.
Doctors at two of the Western Cape’s most severely impacted COVID-19 hospitals say they have seen positive outcomes from using high-flow nasal oxygen instead of invasive mechanical ventilation. Kathryn Cleary asked doctors at these hospitals to explain how and why this kind of oxygen therapy works so well.
Carefully planned meals, a television in the room and free Wi-Fi, but no alcohol or visitors allowed. Biénne Huisman steps inside one of the Western Cape’s quarantine and isolation hotels.