This archive report was first published on 15 July 2020.
Kenya's healthcare system is grappling with a surge in Covid-19 infections among its workers, with at least 429 confirmed cases reported as of July 15, 2020.
Forty-one staff members at Pumwani Maternity Hospital in Nairobi have tested positive for the coronavirus, with 19 of them being healthcare workers.
According to acting Health Director-General Patrick Amoth, the government has decided not to shut down the hospital but will instead set up an isolation centre for staff who cannot self-isolate.
"We have 429 staff members who have tested positive, which is about 4.1 per cent of all the cases, and we want to set up isolation centres to make sure the staff are well taken care of in the event that they test positive for Covid-19," Amoth said.
Most of the infected staff members are asymptomatic and are receiving home-based care, with no pre-existing conditions.
The rising infections among healthcare workers have been linked to several risk factors, including contact with infected patients, lack of training on managing Covid-19 patients, and inadequate personal protective equipment (PPEs).
George Gibore, secretary-general of the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (Kuco), attributed the shortage of N95 masks in the country as a major contributor to the infections.
"When they use it the whole day and sweat on it and touch it, this can be another form of transmission if they had touched a contaminated surface," Gibore said.
Chibanzi Mwachonda, acting Secretary-General of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), called for the national government and counties to employ more workers to reduce the workload and increase the infection rate.
"When one works for about 14 hours just taking care of patients, more so the ones in intensive care unit, they risk getting infected," Mwachonda said.
