The Uganda Nurses an Midwives Union, has registered a loss of over 50 members following the second wave of the deadly COVID-19 virus that has hit the country.
Sr Annet Birungi, the treasurer of the Union says over 50 members of their trade union have already succumbed to the virus with predictions suggesting that it has only started.
“These nurses have died in a very bad shape because they were not having enough care. When a nurse dies, you find us struggling, collecting money on WhatsApp, there is no transport to a place designated for us,” Sr Birungi said.
Appearing on NTV for their Morning at NTV Show, Sr Birungi said it is saddening to know that most of the deceased have died due to lack of appropriate medical attention and yet their families could afford to take care of them.
She blasted the authorities for knowing that nurses are at great risk of contracting the virus but doing nothing much to protect them during their work.
She asked the government to compensate the families of the deceased and also give risk allowances to all nurses irrespective of which department they are deployed to.
“We want to fill forms of those who have died so that they can be compensated, there is no shortcut to this, the government has to compensate their families,” Sr Birungi said.
Uganda has so far lost 1,966 people to COVID-19 as of results announced yesterday. 84,116 have contracted the virus while over 56,000 have recovered.
