Chiredzi Hospital COVID-19 Isolation centre gains technical clarity on correct structural sequence of donning and doffing areas

^{By Tatenda Chimbwanda}

Chiredzi, Zimbabwe - Chiredzi district in Masvingo Province currently has eleven active COVID-19 cases in their quarantine centres.  However, the number of cases are projected to increase due to Chiredzi’s proximity to the borders of Mozambique and South Africa, which have also become popular illegal entry points of Zimbabweans returning home in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Besides, Chiredzi district falls under Masvingo Province which has 157 cases of COVID-19 making it extremely imperative for the health care facilities to have the capacity to manage cases.  

“Although Chiredzi district has not reported any COVID-19 related deaths, they would like to keep it that way by being prepared to respond” says Dr Tendai Maturambura, the acting District Medical Officer (DMO) at Chiredzi General Hospital. Dr Maturambura is also responsible for managing the COVID-19 isolation centre.

The Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) with support from World Health Organisation (WHO) visited Chiredzi General Hospital isolation centre as part of their re-assessment of health facilities readiness to admit and manage COVID-19 cases in the country’s most infected provinces.  These include Masvingo, Bulawayo (1225), Manicaland (354) and Matebeleland South (576) provinces. The main objectives of the visit included accessing implementation of overall COVID-19 response efforts and Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures at provincial district and health facilities level. The visit also sought to identify priority support required from the Government of Zimbabwe to maintain ongoing COVID-19 response and efforts of essential health services.  

As part of Chiredzi General Hospital COVID-19 response preparedness, the hospital turned its old female ward into an isolation centre. This will be used to admit mild Covid-19 cases of people who test positive at Chiredzi’s quarantine centre and also in the hospital’s general wards. The cost of renovations was made possible by the generous financial support of a private agri-based sugar company Tongaat Huletts.  In addition, ActionAid Zimbabwe will be donating solar panels to ensure the refurbished isolation centre has sustained running water and power.

During Chiredzi General Hospital isolation centre assessment, Dr Maturambura took the opportunity to get technical guidance on the old structure being renovated into an isolation centre.  MoHCC and WHO officials noticed that the structural flow was not in line with WHO IPC guidelines.  The structural sequence of donning and doffing areas was incorrect as they shared the same exit. MoHCC and WHO officials helped Dr Maturambura and the Public Health Works team (constructors responsible for maintaining and constructing all government infrastructures) to identify a new space for doffing and exit area.

This will correct the structural flow sequence of donning and doffing areas to have two separate exits.  Dr Maturambura was delighted with the guidance and IPC recommendations from MoHCC and WHO officials.

“I am grateful for MoHCC and WHO assessment of our new isolation centre under renovations. They really helped us with our flow of patients which we had mixed up. We now know that donning and doffing areas cannot share the same exit and we will adjust our renovations accordingly,” noted Dr Muturambura.

Chiredzi Hospital is one of the eleven health facilities under Masvingo Province, which have been assessed and received technical guidance from MoHCC with technical support from WHO. The support WHO provided was made possible by United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DfID/ UKAid funding. In addition to the assessment, MoHCC and WHO also used the opportunity to gather more information about Chiredzi’s isolation centre guided by the 2^nd Rapid Assessment Tool for Health Facilities in Zimbabwe.  Using information from their overall findings in Masvingo Province, the MoHCC concluded by stating that at Chiredzi Hospital, IPC training is required on donning and doffing at infrastructural level. Moreover, the assessment has also been extremely eye opening for the areas which still need strengthening in relation to COVID-19 response in the four provinces assessed.