Charmaine Kgopa
A thirty-three year old professional nurse in Gauteng has become the face of the COVID-19 army in the front line, fighting to flatten the curve of the pandemic. Botlhale Mokwape is one of the champions in the Tshwane District responsible for ensuring that the education system in the province continues to be a safe-haven for teachers and leaners.
She is making a positive impact in the fight against COVID-19 through one-on-one interactions with learners and teachers who test positive. Additionally, Mokwape performs risk assessments in schools to ensure compliance with COVID-19 regulations before and after exposure with the COVID-19 virus.
Mokwape who is a professional nurse with experience in midwifery says although there are other branches of specialization in the healthcare system, her passion is in primary healthcare, focusing on adolescent and young-people. Her team works very closely with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) to trace all COVID-19 contacts.
"My role is to ensure that there is compliance with screening processes in school and to ensure that any learner or teacher that shows one or two of the clinical signs of COVID-19 is immediately isolated and tested for the virus," said Mokwape.
The team works with all schools in the Tshwane District to ensure that the Standard Operating Procedures by the Gauteng Department of Education for the prevention, containment and management of COVID-19 are adhered to.