Covid 19 infections in the country hit the 3000 mark after 105 more people tested positive to the highly contagious disease further pushing the national tally to 3094.
The increased figures comes as the government embarked on launching the Home Based Isolation and Care Guidelines, for Patients with COVID-19.
The guidelines are available on the Ministry of Health website and have been developed to provide a solution in the management of the increasing cases and the anticipated surge in the COVID-19 cases.
Giving an update on status of Covid 19 pandemic in the country, Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Dr. Rashid Aman said that currently data indicates that 78 per cent of the infected persons, admitted in local health facilities were either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and therefore could be managed at home provided proper laid down procedures were followed.
“The Home-Based Isolation and Care Guidelines dictate these procedures and the guidelines expound on key areas that include eligibility, care procedures, medical monitoring, referral system to health facilities when the need arises, criteria for determining recovery and community participation among others”, he said .
Dr. Rashid added that the implementation of the guidelines which begin immediately shall be done under the supervision of medical and public health officials, Community Health Volunteers will also be involved in the daily assessment of the home-based patients and will be the key link between the healthcare workers and the households.
The CAS further explained that the Home-based care in the informal settlements where households share small spaces will require identification of institutions within the community that meet the recommendations for providing such care and herein, he said the ‘Nyumba Kumi’ Initiative can play a role in supporting the care in the community.
To succeed, he said that the Ministry was appealing to non-governmental organizations, and other well-wishers to partner with them in the fight against COVID-19 urging all the stakeholders involved in the care of COVID-19 patients, to adhere to these guidelines, and ensure that it cascades to all informal caregivers of these patients, in order to ensure delivery of quality services to our citizens.
On a more positive note, The CS said that 175 patients were discharged after fully recovering from Covid 19 in the last 24 hours, the highest number of discharges the country has ever recorded bringing the tally to 1,048.
He however said the 105 positive cases recorded were sample out of 2,273 specimen tested bringing the total number of confirmed positive cases to 3,094, from 102,956 samples tested so far.
Out of today’s cases, 96 are Kenyans and nine (9) are foreigners, while 77 are males and 28 are females with the youngest being two years old and the oldest is 77.
The cases, Dr. Rashid said are distributed in Nairobi which has (43) cases, Busia, (18), Mombasa, (11), Turkana, (7), Migori, (6), Kwale and Kiambu, (5) cases each, Kilifi, Machakos and Taita Taveta (3) cases each, Kisumu, (2), while Uasin Gishu, Siaya, Kajiado and Garissa has one case each.
By sub-counties, the cases in Nairobi are from Ruaraka, 14, Langata, (5), Dagoretti North and Kamukunji (4) cases each, Embakasi West, Embakasi East and Kibra, (3) cases each, Starehe and Westlands, (2) cases each while Makadara, Mathare and Embakasi South, one case each.
In Busia, all the (18) cases are of truck drivers, at Malaba border point. In Mombasa, the 11 cases are from Kisauni, (5), Likoni, (4) and Mvita, (2).
In Turkana, all the (7) cases are of truck drivers at Nadapal point of entry while in In Migori, the (6) cases are from Kuria West, (4), Nyatike and Suna East (1) case each. In Kiambu, the (5) cases are from Ruiru, (2), Kiambu Town, Juja and Lari (1) case each.
In Kilifi, all the (3) cases are from Rabai. In Machakos, all the (3) cases are from Athi River, while in Taita Taveta, all the (3) cases are of truck drivers at Taveta. In Kisumu, the (2) cases are of truck drivers in Kisumu Central, while in Uasin Gishu, the (1) case is of a truck driver in Turbo. In Siaya, the (1) case is from Rarieda, in Garissa the (1) case is from Daadab, while in Kajiado, the (1) case is from Kajiado East.
But Dr. Rashid regreted to inform the nation that another patient from Nairobi succumbed to Covid 19 related ailments bringing the total tally of fatalities to 89 .
Dr. Francis Kuria, Director of Health acknowledged that the issue of truck drivers is becoming a thorn in the flesh for the last three weeks and even since the protocol were given, they have witnessed failures with the system especially at the Busia and Malaba border points created by truck owners and drivers.
“So far most drivers at Busia and Malaba border points have come without certificates which is purely defiance, causing a snarl up despite the government working hard to clear the backlog and manage from 74 km to 19km”, he said
He said that through the EAC partner states, they are working on digital certificate that will be rolled out by the end of the week .
The tests will be visible by member state since they will be standardized testing across board and once rolled out the digital system with digital information will require only a mobile phone for one to decipher information of the test.
Mary Nandili, Director of Nursing Services, Ministry of Health said that currently there are 781 patients admitted across public and private health facilities.
Out of these, she noted that 7 are critical condition and in ICU, 4 are under incubation and 2 under ventilation.
Dr. Nandili however assured Kenyans saying that over 85 percent of patients leave ICU and this shows how good and effective health care workers are the facilities.
By Wangari Ndirangu
