Experts want mental health status of medical workers treating Covid-19 assessed

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Mental health experts say it’s important that health workers are tested for their mental readiness to work in COVID-19 treatment units.

Speaking during a meeting held by the Makerere University School of Public Health, Entebbe Grade B hospital Director Dr Moses Muwanga says they are working on a periodical assessment of their health workers for alertness as a small error could end up infecting a whole lot of health workers.

He adds that before the 23 health workers that tested positive for COVID-19 were announced, they had been not allowing health workers with anxiety disorders in the ward.

According to Muwanga, there are currently about 128 patients admitted but they allow eight non-patients to access the ward including research teams of epidemiologists, caretakers, psychosocial teams and medical workers.

He notes currently however that though no health worker at Entebbe has tested positive, many of them are exhausted and some stressed something that could fuel more complicated mental health issues.

Prof. Noelene Nakasujja who heads the department of psychiatry at Makerere University says that researchers are currently collecting data and enrolling participants in a study funded by the government to establish how far COVID-19 has affected health workers.

She said assessing the health workers is vital for halting further spread of the disease. Nakasuija adds that the findings will inform the kind of interventions that will cater to the mental wellness of health workers.

However, even as 23 health workers have tested positive, it’s not clear whether they got the virus from the hospital in line of duty or the community.

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