MoH says 78% Of Covid-19 Patients Eligible For Home-Based Care

78 percent of the Covid-19 active cases in Kenya are eligible for home-based care according to the Ministry of Health.

MoH argues that most patients estimated at around 2,400 are currently asymptomatic hence they do not require much attention as those admitted with severe conditions.

“These patients can be managed at home, provided procedures are followed. MOH has just launched home-based care guidelines available on the Ministry of Health portal,” said CAS Rashid Aman during the Covid-19 update on Wednesday, June 10, 2020.

CAS Aman said that most asymptomatic cases ranged from mild to no symptoms and this makes the conditions easy to manage if proper guidelines are put in place.

For informal settlements where most people are living close to each other an institution will be chosen where the patients will be observed until they fully recover. Health volunteers will be required to ensure the program is a success.

Household members will be chosen to take care of their patient and thus no specialized health worker will have to be involved. The member chosen will have to be the safest person and the one who is not vulnerable to the infection.

However, Dr. Aman argues that home-based care is not a guarantee that the patient will fully recover as the conditions of the infection might change from mild to severe.

“It is dangerous to live in the comfort of what we do not know. The asymptomatic patients can progress into serious conditions; all we need to do is be prepared for the worst,” the Health CAS argued.

The Home-based care will come in handy to decongest some already overwhelmed Covid-19 health facilities. Patients will only be taken to the facilities when their conditions are not manageable at home.

Most patients are also being discharged from the facilities with the total number of recoveries now hitting the 1000 mark. On Wednesday, Kenya recorded the highest number of recoveries at 175 which also higher than the new cases at 105.

The total number of recoveries currently stands at 1,048 while the total number of reported cases is at 3,094. Sadly, 89 patients have lost their lives to the virus.