Doctors and nurses at the Kakamega County General Teaching and Referral Hospital on Wednesday fled from the casualty ward after a patient with coronavirus-like symptoms was brought to the facility.
The health workers said they feared contracting the highly contagious coronavirus disease because they do not have protective gear.
“When I got to the hospital, there was a lot of panic after a patient was put in isolation for exhibiting coronavirus-like symptoms. The nurses fled from the casualty ward because they do not have face masks and gloves. The patient has been left alone in the room,” Kenya National Union of Nurses Kakamega Branch secretary, Renson Bulunya said.
At about 12 pm, the hospital administrator ordered all the gates closed, with no new patients being allowed into the compound at that time.
The patient is said to have been taken to an isolation room within the hospital.
Bulunya urged authorities to also have two Red Cross Kenya personnel, who are attached to Kakamega County, also tested alongside the patient for the coronavirus disease, claiming they handled the patient.
But the ambulance service provider, Emergency and Medical Services (E-Plus) which a subsidiary of Red Cross Kenya that provides ambulance services, said their personnel did not handle the patient.
The hospital has not yet provided hand sanitisers or hand-washing water at its gate.
The governor also closed down all the mortuaries in the county for a period of 30 days.
