(Seychelles News Agency) - The health authority in Seychelles said on Tuesday that the group of 50 health professionals from Kenya currently on the island nation will be deployed to all health facilities to conduct screenings.

The chief executive of the Health Care Agency, Danny Louange, said the group will be at the forefront of the screenings which have become the new normal and will help to strengthen surveillance and monitoring in the event of a second wave of COVID-19.

“Screenings is an additional service which we are offering because it was not there before. For now, we have taken nurses from other functions at health centres, to put them at the forefront to do this, but now the Kenyan nurses will do that,” explained Louange.

The 50 health professionals sent here by the government of Kenya under a two-year agreement with the local health authority includes 45 nurses, two public health officers, one lab technician, one person responsible for logistics and one doctor. The group arrived early in May and spent 14 days in quarantine.

Louange said the group will be in Seychelles for three months but their stay can be extended if the need arises. The health professionals are currently following an orientation programme so that they can familiarise themselves with the local health care system.

Even though Seychelles – 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean – is COVID-free after the 11 confirmed cases have recovered, the Health Authority is urging people to remain vigilant and to observe health measures including social distancing and to avoid big gatherings as COVID-19 is still very much a threat. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Image Library, Wikipedia) Photo License: CC0

In a previous interview, the Public Health Commissioner Jude Gedeon had said that the Kenyans' expertise is much-needed in the public health system, not only in the hospitals but at the community level as well.

"They are almost all of them are community trained and we have so much that needs to be done in our communities for preventions. Our plans that we have developed and some by other organisations have so much to do with communities. And that is where prevention is done and not only in the hospitals. Out there in schools at works places and we need the presence of health at schools," said Gedeon, adding that their work will support what the local authority has done in the community.

Gedeon also announced during the weekly update with journalists that the Health Department has started discussions with the Department of Foreign Affairs to see how the foreign missions can assist Seychellois including students abroad who wish to return home. According to Gedeon the authority will see how these locals can be repatriated especially on routes where local airline Air Seychelles is already operating cargo services.

Even though Seychelles – 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean – is COVID-free after the 11 confirmed cases have recovered, the Health Authority is urging people to remain vigilant and to observe health measures including social distancing and to avoid big gatherings as COVID-19 is still very much a threat.