Durban - A woman and her 6-year-old daughter were recently told they had had contact with a doctor who had tested positive for the coronavirus. The woman says all her attempts to get tested have fallen on deaf ears.
The woman, who cannot be named to protect her and her family from discrimination, has been confined to her house - which she shares with five family members, including her elderly mother - since she heard the news from her daughter's doctor on March 27.
The woman is furious with the management of the private hospital she took her daughter to, saying they should not have let the doctor remain at work while he was awaiting coronavirus test results.
Isipingo Hospital, however, has said it followed protocol and that the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) recommended those who had been in contact with the doctor immediately isolate but only be tested if they had presented symptoms.
The woman said her daughter had corrective surgery at the hospital. The girl was discharged on March 26 and began vomiting at home. The mother contacted her daughter’s doctor, who apparently said the child was reacting to the anaesthetic administered during her surgery.
The following day the doctor called to check on her daughter and to inform her that the anaesthetist, who had also seen to her daughter, had tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Apparently the doctor was awaiting results at the time he saw my daughter and the results came back positive. The doctor suggested that I should also get tested. I was shattered. My focus was that my daughter was unwell and I wanted her to get medical attention. I called an ambulance and I alerted them to what the doctor had told me so that they could also protect themselves.”
The ambulance arrived and paramedics had contacted several hospitals, including Isipingo Hospital, but none accepted her daughter after hearing that she had been exposed to the virus.
The woman said her attempts to get Isipingo Hospital to test her daughter had also failed.
“I have tried everything to have my daughter and I tested. I have called all the numbers that people with suspected cases should phone, but only to be told to self-isolate and only contact them if we have the symptoms. How do I self-isolate in a house with five people living in it?” she said.
She subsequently developed flu-like symptoms.
“I have constant headaches and I am sneezing. I cannot leave the house to go to the clinic. The NICD told me to self-isolate until I have the required symptoms,” she said.
The woman asked why the doctor was on duty when he was awaiting his test results.
The Daily News questioned Isipingo Hospital about the mother’s allegations.
Vishnu Rampartab, group general manager at Joint Medical Holdings (JMH), which owns the hospital, confirmed an anaesthetist at Isipingo Hospital had tested positive for Covid-19 and had since been placed in isolation.
Rampartab said the hospital had reported this finding to the NICD and had contacted everyone who had come into contact with the doctor, and informed them to immediately isolate.
“NICD has recommended that it is not necessary to test unless you have presented symptoms,” he said.