The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) has asked members to be on their guard in the line of duty as deaths increase due to Covid-19.
KMPDU issued the statement on Saturday, November 14, after five of their colleagues succumbed to Covid-19 within the week.
The deaths of doctors Emarah Ashraf, Vladimir Schukin, Hudson Inyangala, and Robert Ayisi was announced on Friday, November 13.
The union further announced Dr. Hudson Alumera's death on Saturday, November 14. Alumera was a periodontal surgeon.
"KMPDU urges all doctors to abstain from duties where the work environment is unsafe," the statement read.
The doctors condemned the National and County Government for failing to protect them and ordered them to bear the cost of Covid-19 treatment for all frontline health care workers and the public.
"To the Government of Kenya, the welfare occupational safety and health of frontline health care workers is non-negotiable moving forward," they declared.
On Monday, October 16, Council of Governors chairman Wycliffe Oparanya warned that the virus was spreading among health workers, pleading with President Uhuru Kenyatta to provide packages to cushion medics.
Over 500 medics have so far contracted Covid-19.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, while addressing the nation on Thursday, November 12, acknowledged that Covid-19 has put a massive strain on health systems in every nation.
He honoured and commended frontline health workers who are fighting the virus and also mourned those who died.
"A Recovery Programme targets to revamp a broad spectrum of economic sectors by hiring 5,000 health workers and 11,000 interns," Kenyatta stated adding that he supported counties and medics during the crisis and will do more as he targets reviving the economy.
