Kenyan Medics Scamper for Safety as Ailing Chinese Nationals are Brought to the Hospital

There was drama at Makindu sub-County Hospital in Makueni County after medics reportedly fled after five ailing Chinese nationals were brought to the facility. 

The Chinese were driven to the hospital by police officers on Saturday but health workers scampered over fears that the foreigners were infected with the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19). 

Only a few unattended patients, police and the Chinese nationals were left at the facility, Sunday Nation reported. Operations were paralyzed at the hospital for hours over the incident.

“The scare was aggravated by the fact that the Chinese, who accompanied the patients, had face masks,” said a medic who spoke to Daily Nation.

The five patients were later isolated at the facility and assigned a doctor to monitor their condition. Samples were also taken from them and sent to the National Influenza Laboratory in Nairobi for testing for COVID-19.

The five work for Sinohydro Corporation, a Chinese construction company that is building the Kibwezi-Kitui Road.

The virus, which originated in China’s Wuhan city late last year, has so far killed more than 2,000 people, a majority of them in China. Over 70,000 other people have been infected.