This archive report was first published on 13 July 2020.
On June 18, 2020, Moses Gitonga Ringera, a 49-year-old clinical nurse, reported to work at the University of Nairobi Clinic as usual. However, he started complaining of chest pains and shortness of breath hours later.
According to his wife, Lucyline Gitonga, when he was examined, his blood sugar was very high despite him not having a history of diabetes. He was rushed to the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) and was put in isolation.
Gitonga was the second case of a Covid-19 death of a healthcare professional in the country. He would have celebrated his 50th birthday on August 21, his wife told the Nation.
On admission, the nurse never woke up; he died at the intensive care unit, having fought the virus for a week. His wife was called from the hospital and informed that he had died on June 24 at 6:30 am.
Gitonga was buried at his home in Kunene, Tigania West, in Meru County on June 30, 2020. His wife, a nurse working in Meru, said the last time she saw him was in March, just before curfew.
She expressed her grief, saying, 'We are still mourning. We are still seeing him. We feel as if he is still with us but we are beginning to realise that we are alone. It is deeply painful.'
She also called for better protection and compensation for healthcare workers, saying, 'Healthcare workers should be protected. They should be given personal protective equipment and their families should be compensated in case of death so that their children can continue with their lives.'
Gitonga's death was not an isolated incident. Before him, Clifford Manyara Mburia, a 58-year-old anaesthetist, succumbed to the virus. He passed on at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) on June 15 after contracting the virus in the line of duty and was buried on June 22 in Kithiru, Weru in Tharaka Nithi County.
As of the time of reporting, 361 healthcare workers had tested positive for the disease, which had already killed 197 Kenyans.
