Pharmacies in the time of Covid 19
For many people, pharmacies are the first port of call when they are sick, in a bid to try and treat themselves first before seeing a doctor. But in these days of Covid-19, this would mean an infected individual could be placing pharmacists, their staff and other customers at risk.
Western Cape Health Department spokesperson Nadia Ferreira said there are health concerns for all frontline staff “including those working in pharmacies and medicine dispensing units”.
“Our challenge is you have to assume all your walk-in customers might be positive or a carrier of Covid and keep contact short and to a minimum,” said co-owner of Central Pharmacy Knysna, Brian Eksteen.
“Covid-19 positive cases are present all over our environment and contamination will probably affect most retail and public business during this pandemic.”
One such business that has been affected is Clicks Knysna, which was told to close shop on 25 June after it was found to be non-compliant with occupational health and safety standards by a health inspector. The store, which reopened the next day after remedying the situation, has since been adhering to all the necessary regulations, said Sedick Arendse, chief store operations officer.
“The safety of customers and staff is our top priority. When there is a confirmed case of Covid-19, the store is immediately closed for deep-cleaning and affected staff sent home for self-isolation. All the necessary safety protocols are immediately implemented as per Clicks’ business response plan and as per guidelines set out by Government.”
Western Cape Department of Employment and Labour provincial chief inspector David Esau confirmed Arendse’s statement, saying, “They have reported all their cases and conducted the necessary deep-cleans.
“There is a high number of cases at the store, but they have followed all of the recommendations we made after giving them a prohibition notice,” he said.
Another pharmacy in Knysna that has been hard at work to limit COVID-19-positive cases at its store, is Dis-Chem. “All stores follow rigorous preventative health and safety protocols including daily temperature checks, social distancing, the use of masks, deep-cleaning of the entire store with special attention to high-touch areas, sanitiser and protective perspex sheets at tills,” said Dis-Chem HR director Caryn Eliasov-Barker.
“Any staff member found to be positive is immediately sent home to quarantine and all their close contacts are monitored.”
For stores such as Central Pharmacy, however, adherence to these extra safety regulations comes at a price, as Eksteen pointed out. “Financially we are digging deep into our pockets to keep everything implemented,” Eksteen said.
“Extra sanitation measures need to be taken to comply with regulations to protect our staff and customers simultaneously. Lengthier transaction time, more staff needed… all come with huge financial implications.”
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Source: Knysna Plett Herald News