“Health workers are the last defence of our communities against Covid-19; therefore no effort must be spared to provide them with the required PPE," Sanco North West chairman Paul Sebegoe said in a statement.

Failure to speedily provide essential equipment would compromise the national effort to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic ahead of the winter season and put "lives that are already at great risk on a daily basis on the line", he said.

Sebegoe welcomed engagements between North West health MEC Madoda Sambatha and the National Education, Health, and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) leadership to address the demand.

“We are encouraged by progress registered thus far, including the department’s commitment that shortages will be addressed through ordered stock expected to be delivered in the coming week,” he said.

“Meeting the Wednesday delivery deadline will boost the morale of health workers. Any disruption of services at this critical juncture, particularly when the flu season is about to commence, will put our health system under enormous pressure.”

It would also undermine the forward planning that had gone into the crucial phase of massive testing, tracking, isolation, and patient treatment. “A contagious pandemic of the magnitude that we are facing requires unity of purpose, compassion, and solidarity,” Sebegoe said.

African News Agency