Kenya sends 50 health workers to Seychelles

The government has sent 50 health professionals attached to the Kenyatta University hospital to Seychelles.

The team, which was employed on contract, arrived in the capital Victoria last Wednesday. They will spend 14 days in quarantine before they are assigned their new responsibilities.

Seychelles Health Care Agency chief executive Danny Louange told media houses in Victoria that the 50 will assist local healthcare providers to prepare possible cluster cases and community transmissions. 

“Where we feel we will need them are at the screening centres. Like we said we need a safety net to make sure that our health centres and facilities are safe for our patients and our staff," Louange said on Tuesday as the 50 arrived in Seychelles.

"Screening is important for us and it is one measure we are putting in place to strengthen our surveillance.”

Kenya University Hospital is among Covid-19 response centres currently holding more than 145 coronavirus patients. It is also hosting more than 200 Kenyans who might have been in contact with Covid-19 patients.

Louange added that the Kenyan professionals will be deployed in learning institutions to help with the implementation of public health measures.

“We have 50 health professionals sent here by the Government of Kenya amongst which 45 are nurses, two public health officers, one lab technician, one responsible for logistics and one doctor,” Louange explained.

The government-funded Seychelles News Agency said only two out of the 11 patients confirmed to have Covid-19 in the country are still positive and receiving treatment.

“Plans that we have developed and some by other organisations have so much to do with communities. And that is where prevention is done and not only in the hospitals," the CEO said.

The medics are among 71 officials who arrived in Seychelles last week to help the country prepare against a potential Covid-19 outbreak.

They will work closely with the World Health Organization and a group of police officers from Botswana, who are in the country to build the capacity of the local force.

“The seventy-one started arriving on Monday to assist with any worst-case scenarios, given that the Covid-19 pandemic is predicted to last up to two more years,” the state said.

“The Kenyans will play a crucial role in assisting the local healthcare providers better prepare in the event of cluster cases and community transmissions resulting in a surge.”