A Gambia front line health worker has died after contracting coronavirus. It’s the first recorded death of a health worker from coronavirus in the country.

The healthcare worker is a senior nurse at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul. The Health ministry did not give more details of the deceased frontline worker.

However he is believed to be a 50-year-old Gambian nurse with an underlying health conditions, diabetes. He was tested for coronavirus after his death and the sample was positive.

The total death from the virus stands at three as the country sees a rise in the number of coronavirus cases.

Four people including a UN Gambian staff have also tested positive for coronavirus. 

The Ministry of Health said on Monday “The deceased is the first documented COVID-19 case among healthcare workers. 

“While one of the new cases is a UN staff of Gambian nationality who recently returned from Liberia by an A’Sky flight, the remaining 2 are a Belgian couple who came by an SN Brussels flight.”

The country now has 61 recordered cases of coronaviruse since its emergence in March.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba