A Cape Town-based non-profit initiative hopes to get more medical grade Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to non-hospital based healthcare workers as coronavirus infections rise and a third wave of the pandemic looms.

A group of family doctors started Masks for Medics and have to date raised funds to supply masks, gowns, gloves and sanitisers to over 300 institutions.

Masks for Medics are now aiming to include more frontline workers at homeless shelters and feeding schemes in their list of beneficiaries.

One of the founders of Masks for Medics, Lauren Lee says they were spurred into action at the start of the pandemic, when many non-hospital based healthcare workers battled to secure medical grade PPEs.

Lee says, “Our base has been to help individual healthcare workers. So doctors like ourselves, general practitioners but very much so nurses, occupational therapists, funeral undertakers anyone who is at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and therefore will be taken out of being able to care for others. So we’re caring for the carer, because I don’t know who else would look after us when we all get sick.”

SA administers more than a million COVID-19 vaccines

South Africa has administered more than a million COVID-19 vaccines according to the Health Department’s latest data.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said, “It is my pleasure to announce that we have breached the million mark and have vaccinated 1 045 104 individuals. I wish to thank all those involved in the vaccination campaign, from the Director-General of Health to each and every vaccinator continuing to battle it out for the nation in the frontline.”

Source: SABC News