The Covid-19 screening and treatment centre at the main hospital in Bor town of Jonglei State was on Thursday reopened almost a week after it was closed as workers downed their tools.
On April 9, more than 30 workers comprising of clinicians, nurses, cleaners, and plumbers, closed the Bor State Hospital Critical Care Centre while demanding two-months risk allowances and better remuneration conditions.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, several workers, said they had agreed to call off the strike, and reopened the centre following a meeting with the state health ministry and the hospital administration on Thursday last week.
“There are three units at the centre, the WASH team, the technicians' team, and the nurses' team. So, in our compromise, we had agreed that seven of us selected from all the units plus a security guard will be running the centre until our demands are met,” Garang Reec clinician in charge of the centre said.
The health worker urged the healh ministry and the hospital administration to urgently address their concerns as they resume.
Michael Lem, a nurse at the centre, said they agreed to work to serve the community, emphasizing that Covid-19 response requires collective responsibility.
For his part, the hospital’s medical director Dr. Bol Chaw Manyang urged the Covid-19 workers to be patient as they continue working, emphasizing that they will be engaging their partners to address their grievances.