The Garissa County Referral Hospital today received an assortment of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) worth Sh 237 million from the Kenya Covid-19 Fund and Equity Group Foundation.
The equipment according to Equity’s Central Regional General Manager, Alfred Mwangi, will be distributed to public hospitals for use by healthcare workers dealing with Covid-19 patients.
The consignment included disposable gowns, surgical masks, N95 respirator masks, nitrile gloves, head/hair covers, shoe covers and gumboots.
Speaking after making the donation, Mwangi said the County Referral Hospital is among 68 health facilities identified by Ministry of Health to receive the equipment for the health workers.
The Regional Manager said the items were manufactured locally in line with the President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ‘Big Four’ agenda of building local manufacturing capacity.
Mwangi said the manufacturers were educated on how to meet National Standards (MOH and Kenya Bureau of Standards) and the International Quality Standards (British Standards, European Standards) in production of PPEs and in the creation of efficient supply chains.
He said the Kenya Covid-19 Fund Board, Equity Group Foundation and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) have been making post training field tours to assess the capacity and quality of PPEs currently in production by local manufacturers.
Mwangi also commended the County’s Health Department for measures it has put in place to curb the spread of the highly infectious disease.
The handover ceremony which was held at the Hospital compound was also attended by County Commissioner, Meru Mwangi, County Secretary, Abdi Sheikh, Finance CEC Roble Nunow amongst other officials.
The County Commissioner, Meru Mwangi, said it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that the virus doesn’t spread.
Mwangi urged the locals to maintain high standard of hygiene and other protocols provided for by the Ministry of Health.
The Administrator said Garissa township and refugee camp need a lot of sensitization and awareness to avoid a spike in the virus.
“Human resources are very important that we ought to protect at all costs because after the virus we can embark on how to revive our economy,” Meru said.
Garissa County has recorded 35 confirmed cases out of which 18 were discharged after recovery.
The bulk of the cases in the County are from Garissa town and an extensive Dadaab refugee camp complex.
By Jacob Songok
