President Uhuru Kenyatta announces welfare package for Kenyan healthcare workers

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday announced that the government will develop a package to boost compensation for frontliners dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic in Kenya.

In an address at State House, the President directed the Ministry of Health to develop a welfare package for the Kenyan healthcare workers.

"In addition to the mitigating measures that we have announced over the past month, I want to tell you about other additional targeted interventions that we intend to take.

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"Recognizing the critical importance of health, mental and emotional needs of our frontline medical doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, I am today directing the Ministry of Public Service and the Ministry of Health to develop a welfare package to cushion these frontline officers especially during this challenging time," the President directed.

President Kenyatta went on to direct that the package should include a special medical insurance cover for hospital staff working in the isolation centres.

Goodies for county governments

The President also announced relief measures for county governments to help the governors handle the pandemic in their jurisdictions.

"I am directing that county governments receive a 3-month waiver from the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (Kemsa) requirement for the purchase of masks and PPEs to protect our citizens and healthcare workers from infection. This waiver applies to sourcing of these products locally," he explained.

He also announced that the National Government had approved a Sh5 billion supplementary budget for the counties.

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