Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga has strongly warned the residents against self-medication only to seek medical attention when the situation is dire.
Kahiga said it has been realized that patients with Covid-19 related symptoms are doing self-medication at home and yet they are not doctors.
“The County department has also noted with concern that some Covid-19 patients are self –medicating at home only to present at our hospitals late with complications,” Kahiga noted.
He was speaking in Nyeri town during an address on the status of Covid-19 pandemic in the region.
The Governor who was accompanied by his co-chair in the County Inter-governmental Covid-19 Committee and Nyeri County Commissioner Lyford Kibaara said the multi-agency team is concerned with the up-surging cases of the disease in the area.
“Our positivity rate for the week ending on 25th July 2021 stood at 35 per cent compared to a positivity rate of 8 per cent reported a month ago,” Kahiga said.
He added, “Currently, there are 61 patients admitted in the various isolation facilities across the county, 36 (60 per cent) of whom are on supplemental oxygen. This is in comparison to a total of 2,255 cases reported three weeks ago where only 3 were on supplemental oxygen”.
The county boss said to date the region had recorded 2,592 cases of Covid-19 with 152 fatalities.
He regretted that despite the rising burden of the pandemic, there are worrying trends of reduced adherence to the public health measures among the general public which largely fuels transmission.
Kahiga disclosed that a total of 38,684 and 28,120 persons have received 1st and 2nd dose of Covid-19 vaccines respectively against a total dispatch of 59,600 doses and expressed concern on the low uptake of the second jab.
The Governor urged the residents to take the Covid-19 shots seriously noting that it boosted immunity and cited two cases at the Mt Kenya Hospital where the patients who had received the jabs were moving around while the rest were on supplemental oxygen.
He at the same time instituted measures aimed at containing the spread of the pandemic in the area like banning all political gatherings for 30 days, ensuring bodies are disposed off within 72 hours, no viewing of bodies during funerals and only family members to attend funeral among other measures.
Kahiga and the County Commissioner Lyford Kibaara warned the residents against propaganda being spread on the Covid-19 jabs and urged those not vaccinated to get the shots.
Kibaara directed chiefs, their assistants and the community health volunteers within their areas of jurisdiction to ensure all Covid-19 health protocols are adhered to.
The two leaders urged the residents to strictly adhere to the Covid-19 containment measures to curb the spread of the pandemic and safeguard their health and the economy.
Speaking during the same occasion, the County Director of Medical Services Dr. Newton Muriu could not rule out the possibility of an outbreak of the deadly Delta Variant in the area but added that samples have been dispatched to Kisumu for testing and results are expected in the coming week.
By Mwangi Gaitha and Maureen Gitubiah
