Ubuntu Booth prioritises frontline healthcare workers

05 August 2020 | Story Niémah Davids. Photos Supplied. Read time 6 min.
The Ubuntu Booth has been designed to protect healthcare workers who swab patients for COVID-19.
The Ubuntu Booth has been designed to protect healthcare workers who swab patients for COVID-19.

“We believe that a person is a person through another person; that my humanity is caught up, bound up inextricably, with yours. When I dehumanise you, I inexorably dehumanise myself.” This is Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s definition of ubuntu.

A team of academics at the University of Cape Town (UCT) agree. With the spirt of ubuntu in mind, they’ve put their heads together to develop a special COVID-19 testing station to safeguard healthcare workers at the coalface of the pandemic.

The Ubuntu Booth has been designed to specifically protect healthcare workers who swab patients for COVID-19, and its nifty design enables them to do so while ensuring there is no contact with the patient or risk of infection.

The novel testing booth was engineered and created by biomedical innovators Associate Professor Sudesh Sivarasu and Tertius de Villiers in the Medical Devices Lab in the Division of Biomedical Engineering in UCT’s Department of Human Biology. They worked in partnership with Professor Stephen Roche, Professor Michael Held and Robyn Waters in the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at Groote Schuur Hospital.

According to Sivarasu, to obtain a COVID-19 sample from a patient, healthcare workers need to be “incredibly close” to the person to insert a swab into the nose or throat – a lot closer than social distancing guidelines require.

“Obtaining a sample often irritates the nose or throat, and occasionally the patient may cough or sneeze when the swab is removed. Coughing creates aerosolisation and these aerosols often place healthcare workers at incredible risk,” he said.

A rugged exterior

The Ubuntu Booth is made from readily available materials and boasts aluminium frames and Perspex windows. Its acrylic panels act as the “highly protective” barrier between the clinician and the patient.

 

“The booth allows for zero contact and minimises the chances of infection from droplets or aerosol.”

The lightweight, freestanding booths are also designed to withstand adverse weather conditions and are “perfect” for pop-up COVID-19 testing stations. The booths are also a natural fit for outdoor drive-through tests.

“Ubuntu Booths are so versatile.”

Complete protection

With personal protective equipment (PPE) constraints around the country, Sivarasu said the team agreed that it was time to innovate.

ubuntu booth
Ubuntu Booth

“An enormous amount of PPE is used when swabbing [for COVID-19] outside a testing booth. We needed to think of something different,” he said.

After pulling on their collective thinking caps and grabbing some inspiration from Israel, India and Taiwan, the team developed the country’s first Ubuntu Booth.

The booth allows healthcare workers to step inside from multiple entry points and ensures that they are “completely protected” when they swab patients for COVID-19 using a set of built-in gloves.

“The booth allows for zero contact and minimises the chances of infection from droplets or aerosol. Our healthcare workers are some of the most important resources we have to combat this pandemic and we need to protect them,” De Villiers said.

PPE is unsustainable

To avoid cross-contamination, Sivarasu said healthcare workers are ideally required to wear a new set of PPE with every new COVID-19 test. After every test, they are required to remove their PPE, discard it and get a new set before testing the next patient.

“This adds to the amount of time between tests and to the large amount of plastic waste, which is very bad for our environment. With the Ubuntu Booth there’s minimal to zero waste,” he added.

The booth also has the potential to save healthcare facilities thousands of rands, which would otherwise have been used on PPE. Sivarasu noted that healthcare facilities spend in excess of R100 per healthcare worker for a single set of PPE. This includes clothing, a mask, gloves, an apron and a face shield. Some facilities process up to 200 COVID-19 tests per day.

 

“There’s a huge saving with Ubuntu Booth because only the outside of the booth needs to be cleaned.”

“There’s a huge saving with Ubuntu Booth because only the outside of the booth needs to be cleaned, using any generic medical-grade cleaner, which is generally inexpensive and often available in abundance at the testing sites. This lifts great financial pressure off the health sector at large,” he said.

A welcome addition

Currently, Groote Schuur Hospital’s COVID-19 testing centre makes use of one testing booth, and Sivarasu said healthcare workers have taken to it like fish to water.

“The positive comments confirm what we set out to do: healthcare workers now feel so much safer swabbing from the booth. That’s what we want to hear,” he said.

Khayelitsha Community Health Centre also expressed interest in three testing booths, and Sivarasu said his team are in conversation with officials at the facility to design booths tailored towards the centre’s individual needs.

Looking beyond COVID-19, Sivarasu said the Ubuntu Booth can also double up as a testing station for other infectious diseases like tuberculosis.

“This is one of its added benefits and demonstrates its versatility, which is what really makes Ubuntu Booth so unique.”

Tertius de Villiers from the UCT Faculty of Health Sciences talks about Ubuntu Booth, which protects healthcare workers and the community during COVID-19 screening and testing.

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Please view the republishing articles page for more information.


Coronavirus Disease 2019 updates

COVID-19 is a global pandemic that caused President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a national disaster in South Africa on 15 March and implement a national lockdown from 26 March.

UCT is taking the threat of infection in our university community extremely seriously, and this page will be updated regularly with the latest COVID-19 information.

Campus updates

 
  •  Information
  •  Normal
  •  Caution
  •  Alert

Daily updates


Friday, 5 February 14:20, 5 February 2021
Monday, 4 January 16:50, 4 January 2021
Friday, 18 December 11:30, 18 December 2020
Thursday, 19 November 09:30, 19 November 2020
Friday, 13 November 12:40, 13 November 2020
Friday, 16 October 10:05, 16 October 2020
Wednesday, 14 October 12:50, 14 October 2020
Tuesday, 22 September 14:10, 22 September 2020
Friday, 11 September 10:05, 11 September 2020
Monday, 31 August 12:20, 31 August 2020
Wednesday, 12 August 10:20, 12 August 2020
Friday, 7 August 11:24, 7 August 2020
Thursday, 6 August 18:26, 6 August 2020
Monday, 27 July 14:00, 27 July 2020
Wednesday, 15 July 09:30, 15 July 2020
Monday, 13 July 14:25, 13 July 2020
Monday, 6 July 16:20, 6 July 2020
Thursday, 25 June 10:15, 25 June 2020
Tuesday, 23 June 12:30, 23 June 2020
Thursday, 18 June 17:35, 18 June 2020
Wednesday, 17 June 10:45, 17 June 2020
Tuesday, 2 June 12:20, 2 June 2020
Friday, 29 May 09:25, 29 May 2020
Monday, 25 May 14:00, 25 May 2020
Thursday, 21 May 12:00, 21 May 2020
Wednesday, 6 May 10:00, 6 May 2020
Tuesday, 5 May 17:05, 5 May 2020
Thursday, 30 April 17:10, 30 April 2020
Tuesday, 28 April 10:30, 28 April 2020
Friday, 24 April 09:35, 24 April 2020
Thursday, 23 April 17:00, 23 April 2020
Wednesday, 22 April 14:25, 22 April 2020
Monday, 20 April 17:45, 20 April 2020
Friday, 17 April 12:30, 17 April 2020
Thursday, 16 April 09:45, 16 April 2020
Tuesday, 14 April 11:30, 14 April 2020
Thursday, 9 April 09:00, 9 April 2020
Wednesday, 8 April 15:40, 8 April 2020
Wednesday, 1 April 15:50, 1 April 2020
Friday, 27 March 11:40, 27 March 2020
Thursday, 26 March 18:30, 26 March 2020
Tuesday, 24 March 15:40, 24 March 2020
Monday, 23 March 15:40, 23 March 2020
Friday, 20 March 16:00, 20 March 2020
Thursday, 19 March 09:15, 19 March 2020
Wednesday, 18 March 16:00, 18 March 2020
Tuesday, 17 March 12:50, 17 March 2020
Monday, 16 March 17:15, 16 March 2020

Campus communications


New SRC and other updates 16:44, 4 November 2020
Virtual graduation ceremonies 13:30, 21 October 2020
Online staff assembly and other updates 15:09, 30 September 2020
Fee adjustments and other updates 15:21, 16 September 2020
Call for proposals: TLC2020 10:15, 26 August 2020
SAULM survey and other updates 15:30, 5 August 2020
COVID-19 cases and other updates 15:26, 5 August 2020
New UCT Council and other updates 15:12, 15 July 2020
Upcoming UCT virtual events 09:30, 15 July 2020
Pre-paid data for UCT students 14:25, 22 April 2020
Update for postgraduate students 12:55, 20 April 2020
UCT Human Resources and COVID-19 16:05, 19 March 2020
UCT confirms second COVID-19 case 09:15, 19 March 2020
Update on UCT COVID-19 response 13:50, 11 March 2020
Update on COVID-19 17:37, 6 March 2020

Resources

Video messages from the Department of Medicine

Getting credible, evidence-based, accessible information and recommendations relating to COVID-19

The Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital, are producing educational video material for use on digital platforms and in multiple languages. The information contained in these videos is authenticated and endorsed by the team of experts based in the Department of Medicine. Many of the recommendations are based on current best evidence and are aligned to provincial, national and international guidelines. For more information on UCT’s Department of Medicine, please visit the website.


To watch more videos like these, visit the Department of Medicine’s YouTube channel.

Useful information from UCT

External resources


News and opinions


Statements and media releases


Media releases



Read more  

Statements from Government



 
 

In an email to the UCT community, Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng said:
“COVID-19, caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, is a rapidly changing epidemic. [...] Information [...] will be updated as and when new information becomes available.”

 

We are continuing to monitor the situation and we will be updating the UCT community regularly – as and when there are further updates. If you are concerned or need more information, students can contact the Student Wellness Service on 021 650 5620 or 021 650 1271 (after hours), while staff can contact 021 650 5685.

 

TOP