Machakos County has recorded 1,300 confirmed cases of Covid-19 since the first case of the pandemic was reported in the country in March.
County Executive for Health Dr. Ancent Kituku revealed that already 44 people from the county had succumbed to the pandemic, with 25 of them dying in facilities outside the county.
Currently, he added, only four patients out of an initial 57 are in local hospitals as another five hundred had recovered.
Dr. Kituku spoke yesterday when he briefed the CAS for Health Dr. Mercy Mwangangi and her Public Works counterpart Wavinya Ndeti during a meeting at the Machakos County Commissioner’s office.
The two were in the town to present cheques from the Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) to local women groups. Also attending the meeting was the Lower Eastern Regional Coordinator of the Fund, Mr. Joseph Oyowo and a representative of the County Commissioner ACC1 Elijah Omwoyo among others.
Dr. Kituku commended health workers in the county for containing the spread of the viral disease. “I must say as a County we’ve done well since we have managed to bring down the number of patients,” he said.
He however warned locals against becoming complacent, pointing out that the Coronavirus threat was still rife and could resurface with dire consequences. He told Kenyans to learn from other countries in the world, which had relaxed their guard thinking the pandemic was over only for it to bounce back with devastating effects.
Dr. Kituku called on the government and other partners to consider urgently putting up a Gender Based Violence (GBV) Recovery Centre in the county.
He stressed that with the continued Covid-19 restrictions, which had seen many people lose their jobs and go back home; cases of GBV had become rampant calling for urgent intervention measures.
“Since the onset of Covid-19 a worrying trend of Gender based violence has sprung up necessitating the putting up of a recovery center,” noted the CEC.
On cancer, the doctor said the recently launched Cancer Center at the Machakos Level 5 hospital had come as a relief to residents and patients. He disclosed that currently the centre was treating 108 patients.
Noting that the Universal Healthcare program, which had been piloted by the national government in the county had come to an end, Dr. Kituku disclosed that the county government was discussing with other stakeholders on modalities of extending services to the initial beneficiaries.
The two CAS commended the Machakos government for being in the forefront in health care provision. They pledged to continue supporting and working closely with the health department.
By Justus Keesi
