07 Apr 2020

Jwaneng Mine has donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to Mabutsane Sub-district.

The mine's hospital matron, Ms Elizabeth Freddy, appreciated good working relations between the mine hospital and district health management teams (DHMTs) around Jwaneng.

Ms Freddy said this environment enabled them to share the few resources they had and that the donation was one of the benefits of such relations.

She advised people who were ordered by the health personnel to self-quarantine to do so in order to help contain corona virus.

“Looking at the capability of our health system, the best weapon we have so far is ensuring that the virus does not spread because should it do so, our health system would be stretched,” she said.

She said that they decided to donate to the heath sector because it was at the frontline of the war, albeit with limited resources such as protective clothing.

Head of DHMT for Mabutsane Sub-district, Dr Christopher Chembe, said the donation would come in handy especially in an era where such material was in dire shortage worldwide.

He also thanked the mine for its continued support since outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying ieven helped organise training for frontline staff in the sub-district.

“Before this donation, the mine also gave us four caravans with four self-contained rooms each for use by our staff, who will be on duty at the isolation centre,” he said.

Various speakers advised that despite the donation, special requirements as advised by the health personnel such as washing hands and extreme social distancing were still  best weapons against the pandemic.

One of the speakers, who is also a volunteer consultant, Ms Veronica Koolatotse indicated that until a vaccine or medication was found for coronavirus, the nation should continue abiding by such guidelines.

“Personal hygiene is of paramount importance because research has shown that the virus, once settled on various materials, takes some time to die, so personal hygiene is very important.” She said.

Ms Koolatotse said personal hygiene helped get rid of any virus that might have settled on clothes or skin, adding that soap and water were effective.

She also insisted that people should not stress much about using hand sanitizers, which have become rare in supermarkets shelves, indicating that washing one’s hands thoroughly using common soap and water was enough.

Ms Koolatotse also urged people to take care of their environment and try not to infect those around them, especially those with compromised immune systems. ENDS