Letter to the editor: South African health professionals' state of wellbeing during the emergence of COVID-19

Abstract

Given the rapid emergence of COVID-19 in South Africa (SA), little is known about the wellbeing of our health professionals. The mortality rate from COVID-19 among our health workforce was 0.9% as at 13 August 2020, with most infections among nurses (52%; n=27 360). In this letter we present selected findings from an online survey conducted from 11 April 2020 to 7 May 2020, entitled 'Front line talk'. It describes the experiences of healthcare professionals as the epidemic unfolded in SA. The study methodology has been reported elsewhere through the Human Sciences Research Council web portal. Here we summarise key findings on the general health, wellbeing and psychological distress of our health workforce.