This archive report was first published on 14 July 2020.
Covid-19: No easy day in the life of a healthcare worker ¶
At least 292 health workers in Kenya have tested positive for Covid-19, with most of them being nurses. The rapid spread of the virus has led to a surge in infections among healthcare workers, who face double the risk of infection due to their work environment and lack of adequate infection prevention control measures.
Marvin Kairu, a laboratory technician at Ngara Health Centre in Nairobi, contracted Covid-19 in April after being exposed to a patient. He suspects that he got infected while drawing samples from a patient, but he cannot pinpoint the exact patient he saw. Kairu's ordeal changed everything at the facility, which used to attend to more than 300 patients daily.
"When I went back to work, I was more cautious when handling each patient," Kairu said. He has not faced any stigma from his colleagues or friends, which he attributed to being an asymptomatic patient.
Another healthcare worker, who requested to remain anonymous, also contracted Covid-19 while working at a private facility in Nairobi. She had been ill for some time and had developed a fever, cough, and running nose. She was tested for Covid-19 on June 29 and confirmed positive on July 1.
"I was told to take my family for testing too since I had been in contact with them. My husband tested positive," the nurse said. Both she and her husband chose to isolate at home instead of being admitted at the hospital, citing the lack of adequate infection prevention control measures.
Health experts have warned that healthcare workers face double the risk of infection due to their work environment. Prof Lukoye Atwoli, the outgoing Kenya Medical Association Vice-President, said that healthcare workers need to work in a well-ventilated area where wards are decontaminated after every discharge of a patient.
Dr Simon Kigondu, the Secretary-General of the Kenya Medical Association, noted that there is a lack of routine testing of healthcare workers, which has led to a surge in infections. He also pointed out that medics across the board are getting overwhelmed by both Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients visiting health facilities.
Prof Atwoli asked, "When you only have one intensivist in a facility and you are expected to intubate four patients, some in the Covid-19 unit and others in the general wards, who will you leave?"
Two studies published in the JAMA Network Open journal revealed that one percent of healthcare workers in hospitals contracted Covid-19 in the southern Netherlands and Wuhan, China. The studies highlighted the importance of personal protective equipment (PPEs) for healthcare workers who take care of patients infected with the novel coronavirus.
