Sugar producer Illovo Sugar Africa is reconfiguring its medical infrastructure to deal directly with any potential Covid-19 infection within its own business, or the surrounding communities.
In commemorating World Health Day on April 7, the producer explained how it had converted its existing medical infrastructure to zero-in on combating the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
The company has divided its medical services into two streams with a single-entry point for all people coming into their clinics and hospitals. People are pre-screened by way of a simple questionnaire in their own language and their body temperature is taken.
Illovo’s interventions against Covid-19 have, so far, been primarily focused on the countries in which it has operations.
Illovo Group medical specialist Dr Ernest Peresu commented that, with the advent of Covid-19, the company’s hospitals and clinics had reconfigured and streamlined their activities in order to nimbly react to the outbreak of what has become an evolving challenge,while simultaneously still offering the same services that doctors and nurses have delivered to people up to now.
He added that, should the group have reason to believe a person may be infected, or was presenting with indicated respiratory symptoms, he or she was immediately masked and directed to a designated and isolated consultation room.
“We ensure that all physical distancing protocols are observed to keep our other patients, who are attending for regular medical treatment, protected.”