Uhuru Meets 47 Governors At State House To Talk About Covid-19

President Uhuru Kenyatta is meeting all the 47 Governors at State House (Nairobi) to discuss the preparedness of the counties for the deadly and fast-spreading Covid-19.

In a meeting that seems ironic given that Covid-19 did not just land yesterday, the Head of State is expected to take stock of the isolation facilities and beds in every county and determine whether the country is ready for opening.

With Covid-19 cases nearing 3,000, the Ministry of Health says health facilities are already full and overstretched with plans underway to discharge asymptomatic patients back to their homes.

During his speech to the nation, President Uhuru Kenyatta said that the country was not ready to handle a spike in infections, saying every county should have at least isolation 300 beds to help when patients are admitted.

Nairobi, with more than 1,400 confirmed cases, only has 430 beds that are fully occupied. Busia County, with more than 200 confirmed cases has only 100 beds that are fully occupied.

Other counties such as Siaya have fewer isolation beds to handle an increase in cases of Covid-19. The county of Mombasa has been hailed for having more than 300 beds for Covid-19 patients.

One of the reasons given by President Uhuru Kenyatta for not opening up the economy was the inability of the health sector in the country to handle a higher number of infections.

When Covid-19 was just starting, the government through the Ministry of Health maintained that it was well-prepared and that there were enough beds to handle higher infections.

What will happen if the numbers hit 10,000 and more? Where will be patients be accommodated? Did the Ministry of Health lie to Kenyans about being prepared to handle and manage Covid-19?

The Ministry also says that there is a shortage of chemicals used to test the samples. There are more than 5,000 samples that haven’t been tested with possible positive cases still moving and mingling freely without knowing their Covid-19 status.

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