Times Of Swaziland: GOVT RECALLS HEALTHCARE WORKERS FOR COVID-19 WAR

GOVT RECALLS HEALTHCARE WORKERS FOR COVID-19 WAR
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Phiwase Phungwayo  on 22/12/2020 08:51:00


MBABANE – Government is determined to do all in its power to minimise
fatalities related to COVID-19, as the Ministry of Health has recalled
healthcare workers to assist in the COVID-19 facilities.
It was gathered that the healthcare workers involved nurses and orderlies. It is
worth noting that when the coronavirus emerged in March, a budget was approved
to get the country prepared for the pandemic. This publication reported that the
Ministry of Health was set to hire close to 200 health professionals in
different fields. It was reported that these personnel included nurses for
different departments, health staff for laboratories, volunteers for community
engagement and training, frontline employees, on-call doctors and
decontamination sprayers.
It was stated that some of them were hired on a temporary basis, while others
were engaged on 12-month contracts. This was according to a Bill that
facilitated a budget of E100 million for the country to fight the virus.
Director of Health Services Dr Vusi Magagula said there were different
categories for the workers who were employed when the virus broke out.
“There are those who are paid by the World Bank, while others are paid through
funding from the United States of America (USA). But we have been with some of
the healthcare workers since then and their contracts are yet to expire,”
Magagula said. He explained that those who had been recalled had been hired on
other terms. When queried about the number of workers who had since been
recalled, the director said he was not certain of the figure as yet. He said
contracts for a majority of the healthcare workers would elapse in March.