A year of Covid-19 in SA: ’I lost more people this year than in my other 15 years as a doctor’

Dr Natachia Bailey spoke about how tough it has been to deal with Covid-19 patients.

Dr Natachia Bailey spoke about how tough it has been to deal with Covid-19 patients.

Published Mar 5, 2021

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Cape Town - “The emotional exhaustion and psychological impact have been overwhelming at times. But you find a way to come back to work each day,” said Dr Natachia Bailey, who works at Sonstraal Covid Hospital in Paarl.

“The fact that a family can’t come and hug their loved ones and say goodbye before they die is really difficult to see. You’re the last one there with them, but you can’t put your arms around the patient because you risk infecting yourself.

“You become cold sometimes, because the frequency of death is something I have never experienced before, even working as an ICU doctor for many years. I have lost more people in one year than in my other 15 years as a doctor prior to that.”

March 5 marks a year since the National Institute for Communicable Diseases confirmed South Africa’s first case of Covid-19. The patient was a 38-year-old man who travelled to Italy with his wife. They were part of a group of 10 people who had arrived back in South Africa on March 1, 2020.

Bailey said: “It's tough not to get angry when people don't want to wear masks or wear it under their nose. I have to wear PPE, which is so hot in summer you're drenched by 9am, to protect myself and my family.

“Imagine doing a 16-24 hour call in 35 degree heat? You only take it off when you go eat or go to the loo. I can't believe that people are so selfish that they are unable to wear a mask properly in the shop or while getting a takeaway coffee.

“We have to push through, but I don’t think it’s the last of the supercharged virus outbreaks. This pandemic is showing us the type of infections we are going to be dealing with in future.”