Train and equip health workers to fight coronavirus

Not once, not twice, the Government has assured an apprehensive public that it is adequately prepared to deal with a coronavirus outbreak.

In fact, Health officials moved swiftly and quarantined a woman at Kenyatta National Hospital after she tested positive for the virus. Afterwards, they went for people – totaling 45 – she had come into contact with and put them into isolation.

In the few days Kenya has been under the shadow of Covid-19, our health workers have showed nothing but professionalism and unparalleled determination to defeat this odious monster. They have assured us that we are, indeed, in safe hands.

That is why it was heart-rending to hear that nurses at Mbagathi Hospital, where most of those being monitored are, went on a go-slow yesterday because they had not been trained to deal with the coronavirus.

Preparation for a health emergency such as coronavirus entails not only putting up isolation wards as the government has done, but also training of medical workers on how to take care of patients and themselves and also acquiring enough medical supplies.

It was, therefore, disingenuous for the government to claim it had adequately prepared to deal with the killer virus while it had not even trained nurses. That could have exposed the health workers to avoidable danger, besides undermining the quality of care to patients.

As the problem is now in our hands, the Government should speedily train nurses and other health workers countrywide.

Containing this pandemic will heavily depend on how well trained and equipped our health workers are. We will be fighting a losing battle if this is not urgently done.