[LISTEN] Limpopo govt insists doctors will be quarantined like any other COVID-19 patient
The Limpopo Department of Health says all legal processes were adhered to in forcing two doctors into state quarantine facilities after they tested positive for COVID-19.
According to Limpopo Health HOD, Thokozani Mhlongo says all people who test positive for the COVID-19 Coronavirus in the province are placed in state quarantine facilities, including medical professionals.
"We went to the doctors, like any patient before who was taken to that facility," says Mhlongo, explaining that the doctors insisted on a court order to move them.
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Listen to Mhlongo below:
The Department said it was dismayed by an open letter from the South African Medical Association (SAMA) on the matter.
"What the chairperson of SAMA fails to appreciate is that such drastic decisions such as the one they are complaining about are a product of a collective decision-making process of the Limpopo Provincial Government," it says.
"The government has taken this kind of decision due to the appreciation of the material conditions on the ground considering the rurality and the limited resources in the province to do whatever it takes to arrest the spread of this virus before it can reach the ICU's and the wards. To this end, the department took a decision that this can be done by screening, testing, quarantining and isolating all those who need to without fear, favour, or prejudice."
Mhlongo says just because someone is a medical professional it does not mean they will adhere to self-isolation criteria.
Listen to Mhlongo below: