NELSON Mandela Bay Municipality Acting Mayor, Tshonono Buyeye, has commended the good work done by a young team of NMBM environmental health practitioners, who are the foot soldiers of tracing people who have been in contact with patients who tested positive for COVID-19.
Since March, the metro has relied on a small team of nine contact tracers, to reach a vast population of residents who were in contact with COVID-19 positive patients. This was done to curb the further spread of the virus within the metro and to ensure the safety of families and the community at large.
Buyeye said that although the metro was named a hot spot, they had managed to turn the tide with the help of these contact tracers, who had to be moved from their offices to the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium isolation site, as their work exposed them directly to the virus.
“Despite the challenges that the team faced, they continued to do their work with diligence and commitment. They have shared with us the challenges they faced since March, which included being refused entrance at some homes or having dogs unleashed on them as communities initially stigmatised COVID-19,” Buyeye said.
“It is important to highlight the significant role played by the tracers as they helped to curb the infection rate and saved many lives.”
He added that thus far these contact tracers have reached more than 13 000 contacts since starting work in March with more than 4 000 of these contacts testing positive.
NMBM official and contact tracer, Msimelelo Buhlungu, said that the work had taken its toll on the entire team, which also consists of data capturers and interns focusing on physical and psychological support.
“It has not been an easy journey. Our work went beyond just tracing the contacts.
“We were also social workers and found ourselves motivating and encouraging contacts to come to the stadium for isolation to ensure their full recovery and safety of their families. Some resisted as they did not want to leave their comfort zones, but it had to be done to make sure that their loved ones were safe,” Buhlungu said.
Team leader, Buyiswa Deliwe, said, “Our teams went out armed with knowledge and covered from head to toe with PPE. We believe that this has contributed to the impressive non-infection story we tell.”
The metro’s disaster management chairperson, Shane Brown, also commended the good work done by the tracers.
“Their services are equally important to those of nurses and doctors, as they all feed into the same work stream that works tirelessly to ensure that the COVID-19 curve is flattened in our metro.
“However, we must not let our guard down. Residents should continue to wear their cloth masks and adhere to the hygiene regulations in place. The fight is not over yet,” Brown said.
