Brazzaville — When Dr Regis Ondze arrives at work each morning at the Albert Leyono Municipal Clinic, a low-slung beige building with ornate white balustrades near the banks of the Congo River, he finds himself on the frontlines of his country's fight against COVID-19.
After the first case of the virus was announced in Republic of the Congo on 14 March this year, the Albert Leyono Clinic was selected by the Congolese government as one of the main hospital facilities to care for critically ill COVID-19 patients.
Like other health workers across the country and the wider region, the team at Albert Leyono has also received essential personal protective equipment including thousands of medical gloves, goggles and masks through the United Nations Solidarity Flight, which touched down in Brazzaville on 18 April.
"Doctors, nurses and other frontline health workers must be appropriately equipped to ensure optimal patient care, but also and especially, to ensure their own safety in the performance of their respective duties," adds WHO Representative in Congo, Dr Lucien Manga.
"The whole team benefitted from the training with WHO experts," Dr Ondze reiterates as he prepares for the day's work ahead, donning and then meticulously checking his personal protective equipment in a small changing room inside the clinic.
