BY VANESSA GONYE/ RICHARD MUPONDE
ZIMBABWE’s main referral health centre, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, has ordered doctors to reduce normal admissions and discharge patients deemed as stable to create space for COVID-19 patients, following a surge in infections since the advent of the third wave two weeks ago.
On Tuesday, the country had 257 COVID-19 admissions at various health institutions.
Two days later, the country recorded 17 deaths and 826 new cases, the highest so far since the onset of the third wave a fortnight ago.
On the same day, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals’ acting clinical director Tsitsi Magure expressed concern over the surge in COVID-19 admissions and ordered consultants and senior registrars to reclaim wards in the COVID-19 zone of the health institution.
In a notice dated June 24, Magure said: “Just to update you on the COVID-19 situation at our hospital, we have seen a sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 positive patients being admitted in our COVID-19 unit. We need to reclaim back the COVID-19 zone to admit the increasing numbers of patients.
“All firms should discharge as many patients (non-COVID-19) as possible” and “OPD [out-patient department] clinics will remain open for review of chronic patients.”
Doctors, according to the circular, were ordered to focus on emergency cases for admissions as the hospital keeps looking for ways to manage the crisis.
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“With effect from Monday June 28, there will be no elective lists, only daily emergency lists and trauma lists will be scheduled to operate all patients in the wards in preparation for discharge,” she said.
United Bulawayo Hospital chief executive officer Narcisious Dzvanga yesterday said the number of COVID-19 admissions at the institution was also was rising, but still manageable.
“The number of admissions is rising, ranging between five and 10 a day. Overwhelming is not just about cases admitted, but can be multi-factorial, for example, shortage of linen, staff and laundry issues. We are delighted that Ekusileni will soon start admitting patients this week,” he said.
Mpilo Central Hospital acting chief executive Solwayo Ngwenya said the situation was also getting dire at his institution.
“Didn’t I warn you before? Why are you suddenly surprised?” asked Ngwenya rhetorically.
Government recently cited most suburbs in Bulawayo as COVID-19 hotspots and placed them under localised lockdown to curb the spread of the highly infectious respiratory disease.
Reports from Masvingo yesterday indicated that the city’s sole COVID-19 isolation centre, which has a carrying capacity of 10 patients, had run out of space.
In a related issue, the COVID-19 pandemic is fast affecting health workers, with renowned medical practitioner, Bilal Shah, said to have succumbed to the disease.
Mashonaland West province continues to record the highest cases despite being placed under localised lockdown.
As of yesterday, the country had 44 306 positive cases, 37 524 recoveries, 5 073 active cases and 1 709 deaths.
However, COVID-19 national taskforce chief co-ordinator Agnes Mahomva said government was managing the virus and had the capacity to take care of severe cases.
“We know our capacity,” she said.
“We have been working on COVID-19 centres for some time, with those that needed to be renovated having been renovated. We know which institution accommodates severe cases. It is very easy for us to tell. So, to answer you in short, we know our capacity and we are managing it very well.”
Vice-President and Health minister Consantino Chiwenga recently admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic had exposed shortcomings in the health sector, raising fears that the third wave may overwhelm the sector.
Early this year, the country went through a deadly second wave, which recorded as high as 70 deaths on January 25.
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