17 Aug 2020

An official at Princess Marina Hospital (PMH) says patients and their families have accepted the new changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic among them the reduced visit hours.

Public relations officer, Ms Florence Setlhabi explained, in an interview, that currently visiting hours had been reduced from four to one visit per patient in a day for the sake of their health.

She stated that common practice had been that during the visiting hour, friends, well-wishers and relatives gathered around, but since COVID- 19 cases were reported in Botswana around March 2020, the hospital came up with measures to curb virus transmission.

She said the new developments were shared by the Presidential Task Force at national level, adding that when patients and relatives visit the hospital, they already knew what to expect.

She further indicated that they had since increased the number of auxiliary staff and nurses, adding that in terms of social distancing, the caretakers or relatives had been advised not to bath their patients to curb the spread of the virus.

For her part, the chief clinical psychologist at PMH, Ms Vonile Tladi said they had not yet recorded any depression cases from the admitted patients, which might have been triggered by the reduced visiting hours.

She said the change of visiting hours may affect both the hospitalised and their caretakers.

Ms Tladi, however, noted that they were working round the clock to see that all patients’ needs were met.

She said patients had been made to understand the reason for reducing the number of visiting hours and the visitors, adding that patients were appreciative that the decision was made to protect them from contracting coronavirus. ENDS