Cape Town - The National Department of Health, together with the private sector, has confirmed that employees in the medical and health field will continue to adhere to Covid-19 regulations and precautions and wear masks. While experts have warned the removal of masks by National Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla last week, could spell disaster should a new variant emerge, leading people into resistance.
This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) also announced that on the African continent, there were 1 821 cases of monkeypox in 13 countries of which 109 are laboratory confirmed in nine countries and that vaccines and antivirals should be considered for health workers and laboratory employees.
This week, Western Cape Health and Wellness confirmed a case of monkeypox after a 32-year-old man was transported to hospital.
They said the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) are following up on local contact tracing teams.
National spokesperson for the Department of Health, Foster Mohale, said mask-wearing for health workers remained the same including the wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) and that their staff were more at risk of contracting illness while working with patients. “Please note that while the Covid-19 regulations have been lifted for compulsory mask-wearing amongst others, we urged the healthcare workers to take extra caution to protect themselves against the infection of Covid-19 and other respiratory diseases at all times hence we continue to provide them with the PPEs.
“This is simply because healthcare workers are more vulnerable than most people since they deal with patients who are sick from different health conditions, with and without visible symptoms.”
Mediclinic South Africa confirmed their emergency personnel and hospital employees would take the necessary precautions while transporting patients who present respiratory infections.
They said: “For our emergency services and hospital employees, it is advised that while treating and transporting patients with respiratory infections the individuals should maintain masking and adhere to any additional requirements (e.g. N95 respirator for airborne transmissible infections).
“However, patients, healthcare workers or visitors may continue to wear a mask for their own additional protection should they so choose.”
Senior lecturer, Stellenbosch University, Department of Global Health, Health Systems and Public Health and Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dr Jo Barnes, said the removal of masks could lead to a resistance if a new variant is detected and believes the announcement was premature.
Dr Barnes added that masks provided a shield of protection of further infections for any virus or sickness. “On the other hand, the evidence is that mask-wearing makes a real contribution to keeping not only the wearer protected from breathing in disease-causing organisms, but also helps to protect all those around the mask-wearer from re-breathing the possibly contaminated air that he or she exhaled. So the mask helps reduce the risk in a two-way fashion.
“Masks are not perfect protection, but together with other common safety precautions such as getting fully vaccinated, keeping a safe distance, avoiding crowded spaces as much as possible and regularly cleaning hands, can greatly reduce the risk of getting Covid-19. This cluster of protection measures helped to reduce the number of serious Covid-19 cases and deaths to a very manageable level at present.
“My concern with the unexpected abolition of all Covid-19 control measures without information on the whys and wherefores to the general public is that it may prove to be very premature.
“There is no assurance that a new variant that may be much more infectious than Omicron can pop up unexpectedly and put us right back to where we were before the end of the pandemic control measures.
“It is going to be very, very difficult to get the population to go back to mask-wearing after the elimination of the requirement only a short while previously.
“The abolition of all rules were celebrated in the media and by the general public as a ‘return to freedom’.
“Taking that ‘freedom’ away is going to be met with resistance and disobedience, making the work of the health services that much more difficult and endangering the health of the general population.”
Professor Ramneek Ahluwalia, CEO of Higher Health, advises that face masks are a sensible personal and societal protective method during indoor, crowded, closed congregations with limited ventilation, especially in winter. Such good public health measures will protect an individual from not only Covid-19 but other airborne diseases. “As climate change becomes a more tangible presence in our lives, we are realising that some viruses and other micro-organisms that can threaten the human kind will thrive in the changing environment.
“We are noticing increases in viral mutations which can drive animal-to-human and human-to-human transmissions.
“More than ever, we need to ensure that credible science informs public health measures and prevention promotion so that we can meet challenges like the current so-called monkeypox infection with appropriate information and tools.”
The World Health Organization said the origin of monkeypox in places where it was never prevalent before is worrying.
The WHO said further tests were being conducted. “The continent has, as of June 28, reported 1 821 cases in 13 countries of which 109 are laboratory confirmed in nine countries.
“The number of confirmed cases accounts for 2% of the more than 4 500 confirmed cases globally. However, there are a large number of suspected cases in the region, 81% of which are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, underlining the need for increased diagnostic capacity.
“While all African countries have the polymerase chain reaction machines needed to test for monkeypox thanks to reinforced laboratory capacity in the wake of Covid-19, many lack reagents and in some cases training in specimen collection, handling and testing. WHO is working to secure 60 000 tests for Africa, with around 2 000 tests and reagents to be shipped to high-risk countries and 1 000 to those facing lower risk.”
“Outside the six countries in Africa with a history of human transmission, monkeypox has also been reported in three countries which have not previously had any human cases. These include Ghana, Morocco and South Africa, which has confirmed the disease in two patients with no travel history, suggesting there is a high possibility of local transmission.”
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said monkeypox being found in new regions is concerning. “The geographic spread of monkeypox to parts of Africa where cases have never been detected before is a worrying sign.
“It is critical that we support national efforts to boost surveillance and laboratory diagnosis, which are the cornerstones of disease control.”
The WHO said with limited vaccines and antivirals, they do not recommend mass vaccination for monkeypox but rather targeted vaccination for people who have been exposed or at high risk including health workers, laboratory personnel and outbreak team responders.