Two nurses in Mombasa County have succumbed to the COVID-19 virus while six more have been infected with the virus in the last two weeks.
Addressing the press in Mombasa, The Kenya National Union of Nurses Secretary General Mombasa branch Peter Maroko said that COVID-19 infection among nurses in Mombasa has risen compared to the first phase of virus infection in the Country.
“In the last two weeks we have buried a colleague who succumbed to the COVID-19 virus and yesterday we also lost another nurse who was receiving treatment at a private facility after being infected with the virus,” said Maroko.
Maroko accused the Mombasa County government of failing to address nurses’ grievances and threatened to issue a strike notice if they failed to address their issues.
Among the issues, they wanted to be addressed include payment of allowances and promotion of nurses with higher diplomas, payment of salaries on time, and submission of state statutory redacted from their salaries.
Maroko said that nurses in Mombasa County have been on a go-slow for the last one week after the government failed to facilitate them to work.
“We call upon the Ministry of Labor to come up with a method to compensate nurses who have succumbed to COVID-19 virus,” said Maroko.
Nurses have also asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to consider reinstating emergency risk allowances issued three months since the virus was raised.