WATCH | There was a sense of anxiety and fear - doctor who admitted SA's first Covid-19 patient

• A KwaZulu-Natal doctor who was part of the team that admitted and treated the first Covid-19 patient in the country has recalled his experience.
• He said there was a great deal of uncertainty one year ago when Covid-19 hit SA, and he felt fear in that moment.
• According to the doctor he was filled with hope when patient zero was finally discharged from hospital.

A doctor who was part of the team that initially admitted and treated patient zero in South Africa says there was a heavy sense of anxiety when they first realised the virus had landed on South African shores a year ago.

Dr Bradley Naidoo spoke before a small group of doctors, nurses, and health department officials at Grey's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg on Friday where Health Minister Zweli Mkhize marked one year of Covid-19 in the country.

"I was part of the team that admitted and took care of the first Covid-19 case in the country. I remember it quite clearly, the weeks preceding our first admission, there was a lot of news overseas of a new respiratory virus that had taken hold of Asia.

"Initially it was thought that the virus was spreading quickly causing a lot of infection and death. Initially we thought that like previous coronavirus', it would stay confined to that area," he said.

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Naidoo said they soon realised the virus would almost certainly end up in SA.

"But as news cropped up of cases occurring in other countries including European nations and the America's, I think there was a real sense of inevitability that the Covid-19 virus would reach our shores.

"At this point, the corridors were full of discussion about how severe the disease was, would we be getting it, and if we are ready for it. There was a real sense of anxiety, fear, and trepidation in the air at this point."

Recalling the evening

Naidoo can still recall the evening patient zero was admitted to hospital: "I remember the night that the first patient came in quite well, it was actually my last night shift before I was scheduled to go on leave.

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"It was a relatively good night in the hospital and then at midnight I received a call saying there is a coronavirus case and that the ambulance drivers would be bringing the case through to the hospital, and that we must please open up the isolation unit and please admit the patient and move from there."

He said senior doctors and nurses came out to assist.

"Would they need ICU, would they need oxygen? What care could we give them because there was so little known at that point."

He said he was also concerned with his own safety.

"But thoughts also went through to my own personal safety as well as the safety of the team around us."

He added: "So many thoughts went through my mind, would the PPE work, would it fail when we saw the patient and just generally worrying about the safety of the team."

There was finally hope

Naidoo said the first few days were unlike anything else.

"The first few days were incredibly dynamic in a sense that things that we all took for granted, for example seeing a patient normally, taking notes, prescribing medication, blood tests – they all became a unique challenge. Many people with incredible ideas had to step up and find solutions to these problems.

"Simple things like every bit of stationery and paper had to remain there for infection control purposes.

"With everyone's hard work we managed to do very well in the first case. He was a relatively [healthy] man and we managed to see him through and I think when he was discharged, everyone was relieved because there was hope for fighting the coronavirus."