• Doctors have issued a 21-day strike notice to the government to address a number of grievances facing healthcare workers in the country.
• The party has asked the president to use the same effort behind the push for the Building Bridges Initiative to address the virus.
Image: COURTESY
Thirdway Alliance Party has urged the president to take immediate steps to mitigate the surging cases of coronavirus related deaths in the country.
In an open letter to President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday, the party has been concerned with the little efforts being taken by Uhuru’s administration to save Kenyans from the deadly pandemic.
The party has asked the president to use the same effort behind the push for the Building Bridges Initiative to address the virus.
“We have seen how passionate you are about your handshake baby, the BBI but in the current circumstances we passionately urge you to put the project on hold until this pandemic is contained,” party secretary-general Fredrick Okango and National Chairman Miruru Waweru said.
The call comes hours after doctors in the country issued a 21-day strike ultimatum over inadequate adequate Personal Protective Equipment.
The doctors under the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union now want the government to provide standard and adequate Personal Protective Equipment to all Healthcare workers in all health facilities include private.
This also followed the death of four healthcare workers who succumbed on Saturday alone.
So far, 10 medics have died as a result of the virus and hundreds are in hospitals.
The trending issue has forced Health CS Mutahi Kagwe to convene a special meeting of the National Emergency Response Committee, which will be on Monday.
"The meeting is to review among other issues the rise in positive cases and the current containment measures. We shall also deliberate on issues affecting our healthcare workers countrywide.” Kagwe said.
The number of positive cases of coronavirus in the country has hit 70, 245 following the confirmation of 927 cases in the last 24 hours.
Health CS said through a statement on Sunday that the new cases are from a sample size of 6,648, bringing the cumulative tests to 789,952.
From the new cases, 929 are Kenyans while 43 are foreigners and 583 are males while 389 are females.
The CS reported that 20 more people have succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, totaling the number of deaths to 1,269.
Deputy President William Ruto also said on Sunday that the country has to stop focusing on anything else and mobilise all resources to fight Covid-19
This comes ODM party leader Raila Odinga continues to drum up support for the report.
Raila, in the company of Interior CS Fred Matiang’i met governors from Western Region in Kisumu, who expressed their support for the report.
The Council of Governors under the leadership of its chairman Wycliffe Oparanya had earlier said that a number of proposals need to be incorporated into the report before being subjected to referendum.