Nairobi — Dental surgeon Dr. Nira Patel has succumbed to COVID-19 barely two days after she contracted the virus.
Dr. Patel succumbed on Saturday, the same day the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMPDU) announced the death of yet another medic, Dr. Anthony Were Omollo, a kidney specialist who also succumbed to the virus.
Dr. Patel succumbed to the virus while undergoing treatment at a Nairobi hospital after developing complications.
"We mourn the passing on of Dr. Nira Patel due to COVID-19 complications," the union tweeted adding that she was recently bestowed with the life membership of the Kenya Dental Association (KDA).
Dr. Patel's death brings the total number of medical specialists who have since succumbed to the virus in the country to 12.
32 other healthcare workers have also succumbed to the virus with close to 25, 000 others infected countrywide.
The growing number of medics succumbing to the virus has raised concerns among healthcare workers whose union issued a strike notice.
Doctors countrywide are set to down tools on December 6, 2020 if the government does not meet their demands key among them providing adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs).