Over 800 Kenyan Healthcare Workers Have Contracted Covid-19 in Line of Duty, 16 Have Died

Over 838 healthcare workers in Kenya have so far been infected with coronavirus in the line of duty, according to data by the Health Ministry.

This represents about three percent of the total 30,636 cases of Covid-19 confirmed in the country as of Tuesday.

Out of the 838 medics who have contracted the virus, 16 have lost their lives, translating to 3.3 percent of the country’s Covid-19 death toll, which stands at 487.

The deaths and infections involving health workers are spread across 34 out of the 47 counties, data by the ministry further shows.

As of July 15th, the number of healthcare workers infected with Covid-19 stood at 429, meaning the tally doubled in the past four weeks.

Guidelines by the Health Ministry require healthcare workers to wear full personal protective equipment comprising PPE suit, N95 mask, goggles, and hair caps while obtaining swabs for suspected cases and undertaking aerosol-generating procedures.

But healthcare workers in several counties including Lamu, Kisumu, Uasin Gishu, Nandi, and Bungoma have gone on strike over insufficient PPEs or poor quality equipment.

“Despite our efforts to push for a safe working environment, nothing has been done, and the numbers of staff being infected are rising,” Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun) Lamu Chairperson Asya Said said last week.

Kenya Union of Clinical Officers secretary-general George Gibore said most health workers have not received any training on how to handle Covid-19 patients and protect themselves.

“They’re using surgical masks so, if they interact with asymptomatic patients, they stand a high chance of getting infected. Due to the shortage of N95 masks in the country, health workers are given only one mask for 24 hours, against the World Health Organization recommended period of five hours,” he said.