A clinical officer has tested positive for coronavirus, the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) has said.
Consequently, the union faulted the government’s measures in protecting health workers from the virus while in the line of duty.
The union secretary-general George Gibore said the clinical officer, a woman, was working at a health centre in Nairobi, which has since been closed.
He said the officer exhibited symptoms of Covid-19 and was tested.
She is currently admitted at Mbagathi Hospital. Her husband also tested positive and is isolated at the same facility, while her children and househelp are awaiting test results in isolation.
“The union has learnt of our colleague who contracted the virus in line of duty. She has been performing her duties in the outpatient and you can all understand the anguish she is going through,” said Gibore.
“When these people are not protected what are we doing? They have families they go to, they have a community,” he added.
The union says even though the slightly more than 5,000 protective gears have been distributed to centres with active coronavirus cases, they are not enough.
KUCO chairperson Peterson Wachira reiterated government’s projection that Kenyan figures could hit 1,000 by mid-April.
He said if that were to happen, the country could be staring at a crisis if health workers become part of the statistics.
Wachira criticised the suspension of two health officers— in Meru and Kisii— for declining to attend to suspected coronavirus cases for lack of protective gear.
