Revealed: What happened before Siaya's first Covid-19 death

It has emerged that all the medical staff at Matibabu hospital, a private facility in Ukwala where Siaya County's first Covid-19 death victim was treated, were exposed to the virus.

In a radio interview on Monday, the proprietor of Matibabu Foundation Hospital, Mr Dan Ogola, admitted that the facility lacked the required personal protective gears (PPE) by the time James Oyugi Onyango checked in at 10 am on April 10.

Mr Ogola said the team only had surgical masks, gloves and dust coats, exposing how ill-prepared the facility and others are, putting the lives of health workers at risk.

However, Siaya's Covid-19 team, co-chaired by Governor Mr Cornel Rasanga and County Commissioner Michael ole Tialal, says the county is adequately prepared for the pandemic.

A total of 45 people believed to have had primary and secondary contact with Mr Onyango, a former Kenya Ports Authority employee, were immediately rounded up by police after he was hastily buried on Sunday.

Nine staff at the hospital who attended to the patient, including he clinical officer in charge of the hospital,  were taken to the county's KMTC campus for the mandatory 14-day quarantine.

WHAT HAPPENED

Mr Ogola said that when Mr Onyango arrived with his brother, he only reported that he had been involved in an accident at Awasi, on Kericho-Kisumu road.

"He came at 10 am and after running tests which included sugar levels, he was advised to get X-ray services because he complained of chest pains. We needed to establish if he had internal bleeding, " he said

After the X-ray at the Siaya County Referral Hospital, the hospital's proprietor said, Mr Onyango returned to them with the results at about 5pm.

He said it was then that his condition deteriorated.

"He now had a persistent dry cough, difficulty in breathing and a fever. He was generally in pretty bad shape," he said, adding it was at this point that he revealed his travel history.

"Given all these symptoms we decided to inform the county's Covid-19 rapid response team. They told us to have the patient moved to an isolation room, which we did," he said.

Mr Ogola said the clinical officer and a nurse put Mr Onyango on intravenous therapy (IV) as his condition was bad.

He said the man died at about 8pm.

"Our clinical officer, on the advice of the doctor in charge of the facility, Dr Morgan Ndaga, informed the county emergency team of the death," he said

The team issued instructions for the body not to be interfered with until the following day - April 11.

TESTING

According to the proprietor, the county emergency team arrived at the facility at 9am and took samples for testing at the Kisumu laboratory of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri).

"They came back at 5pm and asked the clinical officer to inform all the staff at the facility who were on duty on April 10 to report back immediately. We were also asked to help them trace everyone who was at the hospital on that day," he said

It was at this point that the hospital administration was informed through the doctor in charge that the patient had tested positive for the coronavirus.

"We were asked to remove patients from the hospital and have them relocated to a building nearby to pave way for the fumigation of the entire hospital," he said

Mr Ogola said that from that time, the hospital and Mr Onyango's became mere spectators as events unfolded.

"In light of the protocol on management of suspected Covid-19 cases, ours was to report to the county team. Testing, release of results and case management shifted to them and we were only doing as directed," he said

The controversial pre-dawn disposal of the 59-year-old's body, as captured on video clips that went viral, resulted in furore and calls for an exhumation and a decent send-off.

Governor Rasanga has formed a five-member committee to probe the incident and submit a report within a week.