Cape Town – Deputy Minister of Health Sibongiseni Dhlomo has honoured the healthcare workers who lost their lives in the line of duty during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dhlomo praised the fallen heroes and heroines for providing selfless healthcare even when their own lives were at risk.
He said nurses made sacrifices under difficult and impossible conditions to save patients’ lives at the cost of their own health and safety.
“They took care or responded to the needs of the patients while following the rules, regulations, ethics and standard of nursing, while working in the isolation units or intensive care units with Covid-19 patients, nurses had to ensure provision of quality care to the patients while taking care of themselves,” he said on Wednesday during the unveiling of a wall of remembrance erected by the South African Nursing Council (Sanc).
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“The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health and well-being of nurses and other health care workers, as they treat patients, they also grappled with their own heightened exposure to Covid-19 infection, loss of colleagues and patients they cared for, which resulted in mental health stress,” the Deputy Minister said.
According to TimesLIVE, 1 300 healthcare workers died due to the pandemic between 2020 and April 2021 while 6 000 more were hospitalised as a result of Covid-19 and related conditions.
