Ministry says current testing cannot be used to tell virus prevalence

Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman speaks about coronavirus cases and response measures at Afya House on June 26, 2020. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Ministry of Health said 48 more people have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,905.

The number of patients in intensive care units due to coronavirus has doubled as the Ministry of Health admits that it cannot tell the prevalence of the virus in the community.

The 18, out of 609 patients, are in various hospitals in the country, including four at Kenyatta University Teaching and Research hospital, four at Kenyatta National Hospital, four at MP Shah, three at Nairobi Hospital, two at Aga Khan and one at a hospital in Mombasa. Nine patients are on oxygen, seven on ventilators and two others are intubated.

“These are fairly sick patients, and the number continues to rise as we record more cases. This is the more reason why we are asking counties to increase the number of critical beds in facilities because they will soon start admitting the patients,” Director of public health Francis Kuria said.

As the number of those in need of critical care increases, experts are worried about a possible increase in the number of fatalities. Yesterday, five patients succumbed to the virus, bringing total fatalities to 137.

Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman Thursday said that as the number of infections continues to rise, hospitals are under increased pressure to provide emergency care for severely ill patients.

New Content Item (1)
New Content Item (1)

Thursday, the country recorded an additional 149 new positive cases from 3,090 sample, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 5,533 out of 158,404 samples.

At the same time, 48 more people have recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 1,905.

Dr Aman admitted to Kenyans that the current kind of testing in the country does not represent a good sample size to help determine the prevalence of the disease.

“We are doing target testing, this only responds to a particular area of vulnerability and does not represent a very good sample size, it would not give the countrywide prevalence of the virus, only that of areas where the samples are being done,” Dr Aman said.

However, he said, the ministry is carrying out a civil epidemiology study across the country that will give the extent of exposure.

While presenting a report to President Uhuru Kenyatta during a virtual meeting of the National and County Governments Coordinating Summit, Council of Governors chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said counties had attained a total of 6,898 isolation beds against the national target of 30,500.

He said 36 counties have a cumulative total of 343 ICU beds while 28 counties have 337 ventilators.

The country continues to face a substantial gap in both ICU beds and ventilator capacity needed to sustain the lives of Covid-19 patients who present severe symptoms.

Based on the latest comprehensive data, there are 245 functional ventilators across 110 public and private hospitals in the country.

The mechanical device, coveted for its ability to push life-saving oxygen deep into damaged lungs, is essential in saving the lives of those who experience severe difficulty in breathing. However, countries around the world are in a frenzy to get more ventilators in their hospitals, making it difficult to acquire them.

A study carried out by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), led by Edwine Barasa, noted that the country will need an additional 1,511 ICU beds and 1,609 ventilators (six months’ transmission curve) to 374 ICU beds and 472 ventilators (18 months’ transmission curve) .

Out of the 149 cases recorded yesterday, 94 were males while 55 were females. The youngest is a one-year-old infant while the oldest is 76 years old.

Nairobi had the highest number with 73 cases, followed by Mombasa (20), Kajiado (15), Siaya (13), Busia (nine) and Kiambu (eight). Taita Taveta and Machakos had three cases each, while Nakuru, Kilifi, Nandi, Bungoma and Isiolo had a case each.

In Nairobi, Kibra led with 17 cases, followed by Lang’ata (12), Dagoretti North (10), Embakasi North (five) and Roy Sambu (four). Ruaraka, Madaraka, Embakasi South, Kamukunji and Kasarami had two cases each, while Embakasi Central, Starehe and Mathare recorded a case each.

Mombasa’s cases were in Mvita (nine cases), Nyali (six), Changamwe (three), while Kisauni and Jomvu recorded a case each.

In Kajiado, seven cases are in Kajiado East, Kajiado Central (six) and Loitokitok (two). In Siaya, all the 13 cases were recorded in Bondo while the nine cases in Busia are in Teso North.