Striking doctors in Kenya are back at work after an industrial action which lasted six days.
The doctors, in the employ of Kenya’s Nairobi County government, went back to work on Thursday. They have been on strike for more than four days in protest against delayed salaries.
The doctors were also agitating for adequate protective equipment when handling patients who may have COVID-19.
The doctors returned to work after signing an agreement with county officials on Wednesday, Thuranira Kaugiria, Nairobi County secretary general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union, said.
In the agreement, the government has promised to pay doctors on the fifth day of every month, and if they fail the doctors will be free to stop work without notice.
The agreement also provides doctors with two isolation facilities in the event that they contract COVID-19.
The agreement states that the county government also committed to providing the doctors with adequate supplies of high quality personal protective equipment.
320 striking doctors walked out on government last week, citing poor quality protective gear, too few isolation wards, and inadequate health insurance.
The strike only affected hospitals run by the county government, and not those run by the national government or those that are privately run.
Kenya has 33,016 confirmed coronavirus cases, 564 deaths and 19,296 recoveries out of 429,513 tests conducted, according to the Ministry of Health.
The majority of confirmed cases have been in the capital, although the government says the numbers have started rising faster in rural areas.