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BULAWAYO’S Thorngrove Hospital has taken delivery of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) donated by financial services group, Old Mutual, under a $3,5 million fund towards the fight against Covid-19.
The facility was announced three weeks ago, when the giant financial services provider unveiled a $2,2 billion risk cover for frontline health care workers in the fight against Covid-19 in Zimbabwe.
The initiatives are being undertaken by Old Mutual and its subsidiaries that include Central Africa Building Society (CABS) to support the frontline medical staff fighting the global pandemic.
In a statement issued after the delivery of the PPE consignment at Thorngrove Hospital last Thursday, Old Mutual said the consignment was meant to assist health workers at Thorngrove Hospital in Bulawayo as part of its $3,5 million fund towards the fight against Covid-19.
“The consignment includes 400 aprons, 400 overalls, 2 000 gloves, 2 000 face masks and 2 000 protective shoes as Old Mutual takes steps to support the frontline medical staff fighting the global pandemic,” said Old Mutual.
The financial services provider said the protective gear was locally-produced, with the manufacturer pledging adherence to highest health standards.
“This is part of the consignment, part of which will also be distributed to Sally Mugabe Hospital (formerly Harare Central Hospital) as part of an initiative by the private sector to pool resources to fight the outbreak of the fast-spreading coronavirus,” it said.
I-am-4-Byo, which is co-ordinating the private sector’s response against Covid-19 in Bulawayo, is part of the initiative.
Under the $2,2 billion risk cover, should a health professional on the frontline in the fight against the pandemic lose their life, Old Mutual will pay up to 12 times monthly basic salary to the family of the deceased.
The financial services group has also pledged that through the aforesaid scheme, Covid-19 deaths and accidental deaths would be covered immediately while death from any other causes has a three- month waiting period.
Meanwhile, Old Mutual and CABS have also partnered Africa University and Chinhoyi University of Technology in the fight against Covid-19 by supporting innovation programmes the learning institutions have come up with to produce sanitisers and face masks.
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