The implementation of the current Covid-19 testing criteria nationally, as well as in the Cape Winelands at Stellenbosch Provincial Hospital has the potential to exclude locals who are unable to afford private testing.
This was according to Audrey Karelse, a resident of Stellenbosch who visited the Stellenbosch Provincial Hospital on 7 August after contracting Covid-19. The current testing guidelines were implemented at state hospitals across South Africa in June to minimise “wasteful” testing, according to Nicholas Crisp, acting director general of the national health department.
“I do not agree with the state-mandated rules on Covid-19 testing at state hospitals, because I do not understand what happens to people who cannot afford private testing sites,” said Karelse.
Karelse told MatieMedia that she did not meet the criteria for state testing when she visited Stellenbosch Provincial Hospital, as she is under 45 years of age. As a result, she could not receive state testing, and had to organise funds to be tested at PathCare in Stellenbosch.
Stellenbosch Provincial Hospital in Merriman Avenue conducts Covid-19 testing in line with the state-mandated criteria for testing. The current criteria allow state testing for anyone who is 45 years of age, or older, with at least one of the following conditions: diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, cancer tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or a heart, lung, or liver disease. PHOTO: Jana Scheepers
The current criteria allow state testing for anyone who is 45 years of age, or older, with at least one of the following conditions: diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, cancer, tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or a heart, lung, or liver disease. This was according to Sandra Maritz, communications officer for the Cape Winelands provincial health department.
“These [testing criteria] guidelines do not deviate from recommendations of the World Health Organisation testing policies,” said Ramokone Maphoto, a clinical virologist in Gauteng.
The classic Covid-19 symptoms include:
- a cough
- a sore throat
- a fever
- a change in ability to smell and taste
- shortness of breath
This was according to Maritz. Patients who experience such symptoms, and who are not over 45 with the aforementioned conditions, cannot test at a public health facility, she elaborated.
“The testing criteria is focused on protecting the vulnerable, and people at highest risk of severe Covid-19,” explained Maritz.
The guidelines are constantly revised as new information on Covid-19 becomes available, said Crisp in written correspondence with MatieMedia. “The government has been testing persons that meet the current eligibility criteria – it would be wasteful to simply test a person without a reasonable level of clinical suspicion of Covid-19 infection,” he added. Patients with Covid-19 symptoms will only be allowed state testing if they fall within the testing criteria.
It is advisable to self-isolate if you suspect you have contracted Covid-19 and do not fit the state-mandated criteria for testing, said Crisp.
“The eligibility testing [for Covid-19] was introduced early in the second quarter of 2020. These guidelines have been revised on several occasions since the initial guidelines,” said Nicholas Crisp, acting director general of health. The guidelines, which determine who is eligible for state testing, are an effort to minimise wasteful testing, according to Crisp. PHOTO: Jana Scheepers
The original testing criteria were established earlier in the pandemic, due to a shortage of testing kits, according Maphoto. “[S]outh Africa had to construct testing criteria that promoted efficiency and cost-effectiveness,” he said.
The reason for more recent changes to the Covid-19 testing criteria is that there is a lack of laboratory resources and manpower for testing sites, according to Maritz.
“Besides the cost of the test, other factors that play a role in the use of the test include the capacity of the laboratory and the availability of staff. At the moment there is a concerted effort to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible to deter the spread of the virus and the number of people getting severely ill because of it,” said Maritz.
‘Something needs to be done’
Karelse also claimed that during her visit to Stellenbosch Provincial Hospital on 7 August, she found that the service delivery around Covid-19 testing was “stagnating”.
Service delivery, and in particular Covid-19 testing, is stagnating at Stellenbosch Provincial Hospital, claimed Audrey Karelse, a resident of Stellenbosch who visited the hospital on 7 August after contracting Covid-19. “I was at the hospital at 08:30. The doctor came at 13:00 and said they were going to start [Covid-19] testing at 14:00, and only at 14:30 did they start testing after many people complained about the delay,” she claimed. PHOTO: Jana Scheepers
Staff were absent from the hospital testing site until 14:30, claimed Karelse. After many of the patients at the site complained, staff attributed their absence to a strenuous work day, she claimed.
“Something needs to be done at Stellenbosch Hospital,” said Karelse. She added that many other people have experienced similar difficulties.
No official complaints have been laid against staff at Stellenbosch Hospital, according to Maritz.