Coronavirus: Woman on plane with patient zero quarantined in Nanyuki
What you need to know:
- Laikipia County official says devolved unit will not use isolation wards to quarantine patients who do not show symptoms of the virus.
A woman who jetted into the country aboard the same plane as Kenya's first confirmed coronavirus patient has quarantined herself at a residential house in Nanyuki, Laikipia County.
Health Executive Dr Lenai Kamario says they were informed last Friday that the woman had visited Nanyuki Cottage Hospital.
Dr Kamario confirmed that the patient has not shown any symptoms of Covid-19 and will self-quarantine until March 19, 2020.
"We were informed of one case of a contact with the first index case who had visited Cottage Hospital," he told the media at the Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital on Tuesday.
"The woman had gone to the health facility to visit a patient (a relative) who is terminally ill. But coincidentally, she happened to have travelled with the first index case. The Ministry of Immigration traced her and alerted us," Dr Kamario added.
Dr Kamario said the Laikipia county government has held discussions with Nanyuki Cottage Hospital to offer maximum support to the woman.
"I would urge Laikipians to know that the contact is stable and does not have any disease leave alone coronavirus. We will not use our isolation wards to quarantine patients who do not show symptoms of coronavirus," he said.
The CEC appealed to all persons who came into close contact with the first coronavirus patient to quarantine themselves and follow the advisory issued by the government.
He said the county laboratory technologist and a medical officer are among a pool of health managers that have been undergoing training on Covid-19 surveillance, preparedness and response at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) in Nairobi.
The county has set aside 53 isolation beds in 11 health facilities in the county.
They include Nanyuki Teaching and Referral, Nyahururu Level Four, Pope Benedict, Nyahururu Private, Oljabet, Charity, Consolata, Cottage, Rumuruti Sub County, Kimanjo Sub County and Doldol Sub County.
Last Friday, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe announced that a 27-year-old woman who had travelled from Ohio via Chicago and London tested positive on Thursday night.
The patient has been quarantined at Kenyatta National Hospital’s Infectious Disease Unit.
She had travelled to Kenya on March 5 and is believed to have been infected while abroad.
Since then, the government has announced that two other cases. Both had come into contact with the first patient.
