Tebogo Msimanga |
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) noted the announcement of the new variant of COVID-19 by the Minister of Health, Dr Zwelini Mkhize.
The new variant is said to have dominated the findings of samples collected over the past two months and is believed to be the driving force behind the second wave currently taking place in the country.
“As NEHAWU, we are worried about the rapid pace of transmissions of the new variant and call on all our people to be more careful and to protect themselves and their loved ones from getting infected” said NEHAWU Secretary Zola Saphetha in a statement.
Sapheta said unfortunately, the N95 masks that are being used by their members and workers to protect themselves from COVID-19 infections have failed safety test.
“These sub-standard masks are exposing our members and workers to the virus and this is shown by the statistics announced by the President on the 14th December 2020 that over 38 000 health workers in the public sector have tested positive for coronavirus and nearly 5000 workers were admitted to hospital including 391 fatalities.”
Saphetha added that NEHAWU has always highlighted the importance of providing sufficient and quality Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
He said NEHAWU salutes all its members and workers who gallantly go beyond the call of duty, however, they will continue to encourage their members and workers not to work if their lives are in danger.
