EWN reports that according to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, there is sufficient protective gear for health workers fighting coronavirus, but it has been distributed unevenly.  

Briefing Parliament's Health Committee on the latest coronavirus developments, Mkhize said his department was ensuring there was enough personal protective equipment for frontline health workers, but there have been a few issues such as those that emerged when he visited Eastern Cape hospitals last week.  “We found that a large number of stock that has been ordered but not delivered.  We intervened immediately.  We went into the stock where the stuff was being stored.  And actually moved some of the PPE’s quickly to deal with the issue in the Eastern Cape,” Mkhize reported.  Mkhize said equipment stock must be distributed to provinces that needed it - irrespective of whether they were waiting for an order or not.  Meanwhile, the SA Policing Union (Sapu) wants more measures to protect officers from the virus.  The union’s president Mpho Kwinika said there was too much focus on masks and gloves and not enough on other measures to protect officers.  He said there was no social distancing in police vehicles and officers swapped cars during shifts, without them being properly disinfected.  There was also a lack of screening when officers reported for work.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Kaylynn Palm and Jarita Kassen at EWN

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