Health centre expected to reopen

Johannesburg – On Tuesday the Gauteng Department of Health said the Hillbrow Community Health Centre was expected to reopen on Wednesday morning, following a strike by health workers.

  Employees had refused to work saying they could not put their lives at risk due to the corona virus.

They claimed that colleagues, including several senior managers, had tested positive for Covid-19 but were still required to work.

  Health workers stopped working on Tuesday, saying on a number of occasions, they had advised management that the facility should be closed, and later took their frustration to the streets.

  The department’s spokesperson Kwara Kekana said the Hillbrow clinic was closed as a result of one member testing positive for Covid-19. 

  “There was an interruption in services and the clinic was fogged and disinfected to ensure that there is a continuation of services,” she said.

  Workers at the facility disputed this, saying the facility had not been deep-cleaned or disinfected.

There was also a heated exchange between the management and patients outside the centre’s locked gates.