Kenyans hold funeral for first doctor to die of covid-19

Family members and colleagues on Monday gather at the funeral of the first Kenyan doctor, Doreen Adisa Lugaliki in Bungoma, who has tragically become the first doctor in Kenya to die from COVID-19.

“Our flower has been plucked” says the deceased’s sister, and colleagues mourn the loss in what is for them, a battle against ‘an invisible enemy’. Two nurses have also died from coronavirus in Kenya.

“The best sister you can never ask for, she loved hard, she loved hard … It is not well, is not going to be well… all I can say is that our flower has been plucked,” said Sheila Lugaliki, sister to late Doreen.

Deputy secretary general of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacist and Dentists Union, Chibanzi Mwachonda while making a statement at the funeral stated that this is not a war for guns or bombs, but a war against an invisible enemy adding that all the doctors are quite sad today.

“My heart is quite heavy I can say that. I think even the mood you have seen here, we’ve lost our colleague and for us in these times and these circumstances she is what you call a fallen soldier because it is a battle for us,” he added.

Doren before her death was a gynecologist who was hailed by many of her patients for her professionalism.

#RIPDoreenLugaliki:So long ‘Daktari’ Adisa Lugaliki..
First Kenyan doctor to die of COVID-19 buried in Bungoma.
So long Adisa… Family, friends bid final bye to bubbly ‘Daktari’
Condolence messages depict a young woman with a kind and loving heart..#ASoldierHasFallen
DJ Evolve pic.twitter.com/5B27oVPK35

— Wish Fm (@Wishfmradio) July 13, 2020

Kenyan health ministry said at the beginning of the month that 186 health workers had tested positive for coronavirus and that no doctor had died from the virus.