As the coronavirus sweeps across South Africa, and reaches the Eastern Cape, these are the immediate measures we have in place.
In terms of the One to One Children’s Fund operations, the recommendations are in line with what the government announced on 15 March. This includes working from home where possible, cancelling all non-essential travel (domestic and international), and avoiding public transport and group gatherings.
For the time being, in consultation with the Enable team and others, the Mentor Mothers will continue their house visits, although we will review this on an ongoing basis. They have hand sanitiser, and have been briefed on protecting themselves, their families and clients, as well as symptoms to look out for.
This means we can continue to support directly the most vulnerable families. We have also set up a text message triage service for the much wider community of our clients. We are distributing leaflets, written in Xhosa, as widely as possible across the Eastern Cape.
The situation is extremely grave. We have to protect people who have compromised immune systems, such as those with TB and people who are HIV+, for whom the coronavirus is deadly. We also need to remember the reality on the ground here: for most of those highly exposed in South Africa, there is no way to sanitise properly, isolate in a one room family rondawel, or hospitalise.
That is why any support you can give will mean we reach more people, and save lives. Donate to the emergency appeal here.