BULAWAYO requires at least one haemodialysis facility to treat kidney patients affected by Covid-19, the local authority said as it bemoaned inadequate resources in the fight against the pandemic.
LIZWE SEBATHA
This is at a time when the country is witnessing a spike in coronavirus infections, with a total of 1 639 cases and 45 deaths recorded as of Tuesday, up from 209 cases and 12 fatalities registered in the first week of June.
This resulted in the government on Tuesday placing Bulawayo’s Nkulumane, Emakhandeni and northern suburbs under a two-week localised lockdown after classifying them as Covid-19 hotspots alongside Mhondoro, Masvingo district, Chiredzi, Masvingo province and Bindura.
Kwekwe, Chinhoyi, Karoi and Kariba were already under a two-week localised lockdown.
As Covid-19 cases increase, the Bulawayo City Council, which has been running out of vaccines as demand rises forcing the local authority to borrow from other provinces, revealed that a shortage of materials, specialised facilities and other resources is hampering its fight against the pandemic.
“Challenges/Resource gaps: Inadequate material and human resources, for example, oxygen canisters, flow metres, delivery tubes and masks/nasal prongs, antigen test kits, Viral Transport Mediums (VTMs), swabs, cartridges (for GeneXpert), reagents for the laboratory and vehicles,” a latest council report of the health, housing and education committee report reads.
The VTMs allow for the safe transfer of viruses, chlamydia and mycoplasma for further research, including conventional cell culture methods.
“Lack of capacity to handle severe Covid-19 cases; Lack of local capacity to characterise pathogens; Unavailability of haemodialysis facility for Covid-19 patients; Isolation facilities (Ekusileni, United Bulawayo Hospitals and Thorngrove) still under renovation,” the report adds.
The report shows that the BCC resolved to lobby for the supply of adequate materials, expeditious infrastructure renovation, capacitation of intensive care unit facilities and local laboratories while also advocating for the designation of at least one haemodialysis machine for renal patients affected by Covid-19.
A haemodialysis facility, like the one in Harare run by the Cimas in partnership with Baxter-Baxter-Gambro of Sweden, provides haemodialysis to both chronic and acute kidney failure patients and also provides kidney transplant services.
The re-opening of Ekusileni Medical Centre, a brainchild of the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo, has been postponed countless times since the institution’s closure in 2004.
The opening of Ekusileni would have seen Bulawayo having four Covid- 19 treatment facilities after the Catholic-run Mater Dei Hospital, UBH’s Old Bartley Memorial Block (BMB) and the city council’s Thorngrove Infectious Diseases Hospital.
UBH’s BMB opened in December last year but is still undergoing renovations.
Elangeni training centre is designated for asymptomatic patients.
Meanwhile, Bulawayo is effectively under a lockdown after the classification of its 3 clinical districts as hotspots.
Nkulumane clinical district brings together Nkulumane, Tshabalala, Nketa, Phelandaba, Maqhawe and Barham Green, while Emakhandeni district covers Pumula, Pumula South, Luveve, Cowdray Park, Magwegwe, Emakhandeni and Njube.
The northern suburbs district comprises Nguboyenja, Entumbane, Mpopoma, Makokoba, Mzilikazi, northern suburbs and the city centre.
