“Please save yourselves.” Those were among the last words of a 28-year-old doctor as he struggled to breathe his last after weeks of battling the COVID-19 disease.
Stephen Mogusu lost his battle with the disease on Monday, according to the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU).
The union said the doctor is among hundreds who were deployed to counties to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, under the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) program and had not received his salary for the last 5 months.
“At the time of his death he had not received his salary for 5 months, had no insurance and his young family left with no compensation.Too steep a price for patriotism,” the union tweeted, in announcing the death that raised to more than 20 the number of doctors who have succumbed to the virus since March 2020. The number shoots up if you add the nurses and clinical officers who have also succumbed.
Dr. Mogusu was attached to Machakos County where he fell ill and was taken to a hospital in Komarock because hospitals in the county had no available bed. When his condition deteriorated, he was moved to Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital where he succumbed to the virus.
He is said to have accumulated more than Sh1.5 million in hospital bills which is now left for his family and friends to mobilize before he is buried.
The union had called for a doctors’ strike which was suspended on Monday to pave way for talks with the government even as nurses and clinical officers downed tools over lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and insurance.
This might strain on going talks between doctors and the government, even as the authorities rush against time to address similar concerns by nurses and clinical officers, who have since resumed an industrial action.
They want Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) gear, a comprehensive insurance cover and a salary review.
The country has lost more than 30 doctors since March when the first case of COVID-19 was reported. The country has however shown signs of improvement after weeks of worrying surge. For example, the country had 199 Monday new infections out of 2,416 samples tested across the country.
For three consecutive weeks in November, more than 1,000 cases were recorded daily, with over 20 deaths.
But since the beginning of December, cases have slowed down.
This article was first posted on Capital News.