Durban - A Durban mother and her 6-year-old
who came into contact with a doctor
who tested positive for coronavirus
last month have both tested negative.
The woman, however, said she’d never forget the experience and the trauma she suffered.
The Daily News recently reported on the pair’s plight.
The mother, who declined to be named, fearing victimisation by her community, had gone from pillar to post in an effort for both to be tested.
A Good Samaritan then paid for the mother and daughter to be privately tested.
She was relieved after being cleared; but was still furious and disappointed with the way she was treated by government, the private hospital where her daughter had undergone corrective surgery last month and her daughter’s doctor.
She still wants action to be taken against the doctor and Isipingo Hospital for allowing a doctor who was awaiting his Covid-19 results to be on duty.
Vishu Ramphartab, the hospital spokesperson, confirmed that an anaesthetist had tested positive for Covid-19 and had self-isolated.
He also said staff, doctors, family members and patients who had come into contact with that doctor were in self-isolation.
Shocked and in fear of exposing the rest of her family including her mother, a pensioner, the woman’s efforts to get tested fell on deaf ears.
“The advice from everyone I called was to stay in isolation.
“How could I have isolated myself and my daughter in a tiny house I share with five other family members? I share a bedroom with my mother and three kids.”
She said 10 days of uncertainty felt like 10 years.
The woman was eventually able to be tested this week and the results arrived on Tuesday.
According to the results in possession of the Daily News, the Covid-19 virus was not detected in either her or her daughter.
“I could not get any assistance from Isipingo hospital, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) or any other hospital in the province.
“I then decided to look for contact details of lawyers who could assist me.
“I came across a lawyer who suggested that we do tests first to confirm my fears and take it from there,” she said.
During this time, she and the rest of her family could not go out to get essentials because of what they already knew.
She said the lawyer listened to her story and walked the journey with her.
“The lawyer booked everything for us and paid for our tests and even the transport to and from the lab to ensure that my daughter and I did not take public transport and put the lives of other people at risk.”
She said the experience, the feeling of neglect and being left in the dark to find their way out was the most painful experience of her life.
She hoped that ways of dealing with those infected and suspected cases would improve as the fight against Covid-19 continued.
She said she was still consulting her lawyer about the way forward in this matter.
Attempts by the Daily News to get comment from the NICD were unsuccessful.