Coronavirus: Kenya sets up facility to treat health workers as cases rise to 281

The government has launched a special designated isolation and treatment facility for the healthcare workers at Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi.

The facility, set up by the Ministry of Health and private health organisations – the Rockefeller Foundation and Amref, will be used to offer treatment to health workers who are on the frontline in the war against coronavirus.

“This facility will be able to offer both critical and basic care services for the workers. All costs incurred shall be met by the government,” Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe announced on Monday during the daily briefing.

The Health CS said 4,759 complete personal protection equipment (PPE) kits and 237,047 assorted components including gowns, rubber boots and shoe covers have been distributed for use by health workers.

To enhance the management of the pandemic, the government has also announced training of 30,000 healthcare workers, with a target of to re-sensitise 100,000 more in the coming weeks.

CS Kagwe said boost community-based surveillance and screening, 1,000 police – especially those manning roadblocks, 1,000 National Youth Service (NYS) officers, 300 prison officers, and 53,000 community health volunteers have also undergone training conducted by Red Cross, Amref and the Health ministry through an online-based module.

Mr Kagwe said the number of people in Kenya who have tested positive for Covid-19 has risen to 281, after 11 more cases were confirmed. Seven are Kenyan nationals in Mombasa, while four are foreigners in Ruaka, Nairobi aged between 11 and 80 years.

He said seven were from quarantine centres, while four were picked by the government’s surveillance teams.

“We have 33 quarantine centres that are currently active. We have closed a good number of sites. At the moment, we have 483 individuals in the various centres across the country. We have also quarantined 455 other persons for defying the national curfew regulations,” CS Kagwe said.

Mr Kagwe also announced that two patients have recovered, one of them a doctor, bringing the number of recoveries to 69.

So far, 13,872 people have been tested.

‘’Our capacity for testing will be expanded from our current 10 to cover at least one laboratory in each county. This is expected to take place in the next two weeks,” he added.