EMBARGO: IMMEDIATE



TO NEWS EDITORS/ ASSIGNMENT EDITORS AND JOURNALISTS



After an intervention from Eastern Cape Premier, Hon. Lubabalo Mabuyane and Director-General Mbulelo Sogoni, the Health Department Treasury Departments, the community service nurses whose contracts had lapsed , will be placed  at facility level. Initially the department had planned to allocate to various facilities by April 2021

DG, Mr Mbulelo Sogoni,  Health and Provincial Treasury last night and resolved the nurses, who have bravely been at the forefront in the fight against COVID-19 be absorbed into the system according to the need at facility level.

All Districts have been requested to submit their needs so that the nurses could be placed where their services are mostly and desperately needed. 

This process is expected to be concluded this week with the nurses expected to report for duty next week.

The nurses will also be part of the health workers who will receive the lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine from Tuesday.

In April a group of nurses who have just completed their nursing studies are expected to join the department as community service nurses replacing the current group.

The Department would like to apologise to the nurses and the communities they served for the inconvenience caused by this confusion.

We value and appreciate the work they have done in the fight against COVID-19.


Now that the confusion has been resolved, it is all hands on deck in the province as the virus has not yet been defeated.


We urge everyone to continue playing their part by practising good personal hygiene, keeping a safe distance between them and other people and wearing masks whenever in public.


Working together we will keep bringing the active cases of COVI-19 down.