Plans To Test All New Patients Visiting Health Facilities Underway

It will soon be mandatory for all patients visiting health facilities in Kenya to be tested for Covid-19 according to the new plans by the Government.

This follows an insight by the Government that most patients are suffering or dying in hospitals and homes without the knowledge that they have Covid-19.

Speaking during the Covid-19 brief on Monday, May 11, 2020, Health Director-General Dr. Patrick Amoth said it has become imperative to include a test for the Sars-CoV-2 virus as a standard operating procedure.

“We are in the process of revising our guidelines so that we make the Covid-19 test part of the standard operating procedures,” Dr. Amoth announced.

“This will not only protect health workers but also the patients who are treated by the same healthcare workers,” Dr. Amoth argued.

Dr. Amoth revealed that some cases were discovered after their deaths which has put the lives of health workers, other patients, and caregivers at risk of contracting the virus.

“When people die at the facility level, they put at risk health workers and other patients in the wards whose immune system is already compromised,” he said.

The Government noted that most cases of patients who die of Covid-19 unknowingly are from Mombasa. People are thus discouraged to keep the sick at home and report any suspicious case to the ministry.

“Some of these deaths are mostly of aged people, some who have underlying health conditions. What we want is to discourage people from keeping their sick at home, then it turns out they have Covid-19, and by that time they have spread the virus,” Dr. Rashid Aman, Health Chief Administrative Secretary, said.

On Monday, May 11, 2020, Kenya reported 28 more positive cases bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 700.

Mombasa had the highest number of cases with ten people testing positive, followed by Kajiado with nine, Nairobi had seven while Wajir reported two.

Following the steady rise in the number of Covid-19 cases reported daily, the Government plans to ramp up its testing capacity in the coming days while at the same urging Kenyans to voluntarily go for tests.

A single test now goes at a fee of 1000 shillings down from 4,000 shillings at the Government testing facilities, an indication that the state wants more people to go for the tests.