Hospitals are at the frontlines in treating and preventing the spread of COVID-19. Yet in many places around the world, hospitals and health facilities are not equipped with the resources to do this important work.
With your help, World Renew is helping to fill this gap.
One country where we are currently supporting hospital care is Zambia. World Renew is working in collaboration with the United Church of Zambia, which operates three hospitals and several other health centers. By equipping frontline healthcare workers with personal protective equipment, steps are being taken to prevent the spread of this pandemic.
On top of this, staff are visiting communities in the surrounding region to provide information about COVID-19 and see what actions each family can take to protect themselves and their neighbors.
At the Arthur Wina Memorial Hospital all patients who enter the hospital are now screened for possible symptoms of COVID-19 and given information on the virus. Each patient is given a reusable facemask and is required to wash their hands during each visit.
It’s thanks to these seemingly small actions that both healthcare workers and patients are better protected from this virus.
We are thankful that, to date, there have been no positive cases of COVID-19 at this hospital. Yet we know that this good news means that healthcare workers and at-risk communities are working that much harder to maintain this level of safety.
For that reason, staff have established outreaches at key places where many community members pass, like checkpoints along roads. Each person who passes these checkpoints is given information about COVID-19 and how to prevent its transmission. This information can then be passed on to family members.
We are committed to providing moments of hope, and it is these good news stories―where we can celebrate that COVID-19 has not yet reached a community―that inspire us each day. But we also know that we cannot stop now.
This pandemic requires us to stay committed, and continue to walk alongside the communities where we have already been working for many years.
