Chronicle Editor
In a major blow to the local health sector, prominent Bulawayo physician Dr Cherifa Sururu succumbed to Covid-19 at Mater Dei Hospital on Wednesday night.
Dr Sururu had several surgeries across Bulawayo and was one of the pioneers in Zimbabwe to major in family medicine at the University of Zimbabwe.
His mentor, Mpilo Central Hospital acting chief executive officer Professor Solwayo Ngwenya said the medical fraternity had lost a dedicated and hard worker who will be missed by many families in Bulawayo.
On the same day Dr Sururu died, Prof Ngwenya wrote a letter to all departments at Mpilo Central Hospital informing them that all 2 100 staff members and 348 admitted patients are to be tested for Covid-19.
This is after the hospitals mortality rates shot up, with two staffers testing Covid-19 positive daily.
On average, the hospital would record three to seven deaths from all its wards but now 10-12 people are dying daily.
Two weeks ago, the hospital reported that 206 staffers had contracted Covid-19 since the outbreak of the disease in March last year.
The 900-bed hospital caters mainly for the southern region which covers Bulawayo, Matabeleland North and South as well as Masvingo and Midlands provinces.
Of the 206, 155 are nurses, nine doctors, 12 general hands and 12 from the pharmacy. Two are counsellors and the other two are lab technicians.
The 206 are part of the 1 547 health workers who have tested positive countrywide and close to 10 who have succumbed to the global pandemic.
Health workers like Dr Sururu, who have succumbed to Covid-19 and those that have had to battle the pandemic are in the frontline, they are risking their lives so that we all survive.
Every time they go to work, they are likely to handle a Covid-19 case. And as patients die, they are there, watching helplessly. They also have to inform the deceased’s loved ones that Covid-19 has claimed yet another life.
These are the people we should all think of whenever we engage in risky behaviour.
Every time we attend an illegal party, enter a shebeen, lower our masks and fail to social distance, we should spare a thought for the health worker who is going to risk their life trying to save ours.
Every time we make unnecessary movement instead of staying safe at home, we risk the life of a health worker.
Being careless in these trying times is having blood on one’s hands.
The loss of a frontliner is a major victory for Covid-19. How many families still relied on Dr Sururu?
How many still looked up to him and believed that the war against Covid-19 would be won whenever he attended to them?
How are those families feeling now? Who will they turn to?
We can all protect our health workers by simply playing our part, following the rules.
It is so easy to protect a doctor, a nurse, by being safe. As long as we are all safe, our doctors and nurses are safe.
Spare a thought for our health workers, our heroes, our frontliners.
Online Reporter