Our PPE lifeline to 9 SA hospitals and COVID-19 relief groups

Nine state-owned hospitals in South Africa as well as several NGO’s and relief organisations have expressed heartfelt gratitude and appreciation after receiving Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) produced at REGENT BUSINESS SCHOOL’s iLeadLABs over the past few weeks. More than 5 000 face shields and splash protection masks have since been donated to public healthcare facilities grappling COVID-19 and to organisations providing relief to South Africans affected by the lockdown.

As President Cyril Ramaphosa and his team shore up efforts to combat the spread of the virus, the demand for quality PPE from healthcare professionals dealing with rising infection rates, has increased. As a result, we have stepped up our production capacity of 3D printed parts at our innovation labs in Durban, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town and are on track to produce a further 5 000 reusable face shields by the end of April.

To date, our teams have delivered consignments to the following facilities in South Africa:

KZN

• Wentworth Provincial Hospital (Department of Family Medicine)
• King Dinizulu Hospital Complex (Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology)
• Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital
• Addington Hospital

GAUTENG

• Tembisa Hospital
• Steve Biko Academic Hospital
• Johannesburg General Hospital
• Helen Joseph Hospital
• Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital
• Mamelodi Regional Hospital

EASTERN CAPE

• Department of Health

PPE donations have also been made to organisations working on COVID-19 relief efforts at a grassroots level including the Islamic Medical Association and other NGO’s. We have also extended a helping hand to neighbouring Eswatini, sending our PPEs to the REGENT team in Manzini to ensure that public healthcare facilities there also benefit from our life-saving gear.

The masks and protective face shields are part of the three-phase PPE rollout initiative that the REGENT BUSINESS SCHOOL team is working on to supplement government’s COVID-19 battle plan. We are actively engaged with fellow Honoris partners in Tunisia to prototype a non-invasive respirator, and specs are almost finalised for our prototype intubation boxes. Production for all new PPE products is earmarked for early May.