Cape Argus reports that according to City of Cape Town spokesperson Priya Reddy, Covid-19 burnout among the City’s healthcare workers is greatly widespread and made worse by the fear of infection.

Meantime, the provincial department of health said that there was a significant prevalence of burnout among its healthcare workers, in particular, doctors, nurses and support staff, a year after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Western Cape. Reddy said: “Burnout is highly prevalent as a result of exposure to trauma, loss, grief and compassion fatigue, and is exacerbated by the high levels of anxiety for fear of contracting the virus.” However, she added: “The presence of Covid-19 has not diverted healthcare workers from their primary responsibilities, thus the pandemic added additional levels of care and caution to the way they work and required a major adjustment.” To mitigate the situation, the City has made available a number of employee assistance programmes (EAP) and wellness interventions to all employees, including City health-care workers and those supporting them in their different functions. The City also provides burnout, compassion fatigue and resilience workshops and makes proactive interventions to deal with stress and anxiety. According to the provincial health department, between October and December last year, 2,832 employees accessed the employee health and wellness programme in either individual or group format. During that time, the top five problems presented were work related problems, trauma, Covid-19 related challenges, family challenges and relationships issues.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mwangi Githahu at Cape Argus

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