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AfroCentric donates 10 000 masks to DENOSA nurses for clinical usage
The AfroCentric Group officially handed over 10 000 facial masks to DENOSA members at the official hand-over event held at the group’s headquarters in Florida North, Johannesburg on 24 May, for usage in clinical settings.
This donation comes at a time when the third wave of the COVID-19 is starting to hit many provinces. The National Department of Health has reported a total of 40 724 active cases in the country as of 24 May 2021, which is an increase of 9 620 in a period of ten days, which signals a sharp upsurge.
To accept the donation on behalf of DENOSA members was DENOSA President, Simon Hlungwani, who was accompanied by representatives from both national and provinces as well as nurses.
In accepting the donation from Josh Burger, Hlungwani said, “As an organisation, we appreciate this caring gesture from AfroCentric, especially as these masks will be used in a medical environment at a time when no one is talking about PPE in terms of protecting healthcare workers who are facing the third wave of COVID-19 in facilities as we speak.”
“People are talking about the third wave and forgetting about the PPE.”
Hlungwani raised a concern of neglect of other areas of healthcare service that communities need as a result of the country’s focus on COVID-19 which, as a result of shortage of nurses, means that nurses are moved from clinics where they provide primary healthcare services to patients like those on chronic medication to working in COVID-19 vaccination sites.
He thanked the AfroCentric Group for also designating a good space to serve as a vaccination site for the elderly in the area, saying this will assist patients in the surrounding area greatly as they may be far from the nearest facility that provides vaccination. “They may also be comfortable coming here.”
AfroCentric Group Chief Executive, Ahmed Banderker, said what triggered their call to action was the statement by DENOSA that said which said ‘nurses are not going to expose themselves to unsafe working conditions. All that we are asking for is for our nurses to be protected, and we will do what we know best, caring for our patients.”
He said nurses were on the frontline doing their best, and were also amongst the more than 55 000 South Africans who lost their lives to the pandemic, and that protecting them was in the best interest of the South African citizenry.
The masks will be distributed to nurses whose lives are in a great risk of infection due to the shortage of quality masks throughout the country.
DENOSA thanked the AfroCentric Group for the great gesture in the form of the masks, as well as for putting up a vaccination site in an effort to assist the elderly get COVID-19 vaccines closer to their places of work.
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