Council of Governors: Corona infection rate low but we ain’t out of the woods

Council of Governors chairman Martin Wambora has warned Kenyans against dropping the guard in the fight against Covid-19 even after trends show a decline in infection and spread rate.

He said there has been a significant drop in the rate of Covid-19 infections in recent weeks.

“In the past month, we note that there has been a decline in the Covid-19 reported cases across the country,” he said in a statement.

He added that only 87 out of the 570 Intensive Care Unit beds in all counties are currently occupied.

During the council’s periodic update on the Covid-19 situation across the 47 counties, Wambora described the decline in the numbers as encouraging but warned Kenyans against dropping the guard until the curve is completely flattened. 

“The decline, however, does not mean we are out of the woods. This should encourage us to continue adhering to the Ministry of Health guidelines and protocols to reduce the positivity rate to the recommended rate which is below five per cent,” said Wambora. “We have done it before, we can do it now.”

He said as of September 28, the country’s positivity rate stood at four per cent.

“In the last one week, 3,005 people tested positive for the virus out of the 41,220 tests conducted across the 47 county governments,” he said.

The governor said there has also been a significant drop in the number of new cases as well as the number of patients admitted in hospital particularly those in critical condition.

“Cumulatively, there are 383 HDU beds in the facilities, currently 67 beds are occupied which is 12 per cent of the total number of beds,” he explained.

Out of the 9,817 beds in the isolation facilities, only 1,145 are occupied which also translates to 12 per cent of the total number of beds, meaning that 8,672 beds are unoccupied.

Wambora, however, maintained that demand for oxygen was still high noting that 20 counties reported severe shortage of the life-saving commodity during the peak in the last one month.  

“We urge the national government to fast track the formulation of a responsive framework for management of medical oxygen,” he proposed. 

“Further, we implore counties to closely monitor their stocks of medical oxygen cylinders and release empty cylinders for use by facilities in greater need,” he said.

Under testing

However, it was noted that at least eight counties were still under testing, among them Trans Nzoia, West Pokot, Samburu, Wajir, Tharaka Nithi, Lamu, Kwale and Bomet, listed as the counties conducting less than 100 tests in a week.

On the other hand, Nairobi, Nakuru, Mombasa, Machakos and Busia were found to be conducting highest number of tests which is above 1,500 each per week.

And, in terms of vaccination, the COG chairman said that Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Sinopharm and AstraZeneca vaccines were now available in all the 47 counties and urged locals to take the jab.

He added that the devolved units have so far received 6,353,820 doses of various vaccines adding that this is going a long way in the fight against the pandemic that has caused havoc globally.

Additionally, 3,613,357 of the doses that have been received have already been utilised translating to 57 per cent.

Wambora said 3.3 per cent of the targeted adult population has been fully vaccinated.

He said counties have increased public awareness campaigns on safety of the vaccines to counter misinformation. 

Noting that there were 4,438 asymptomatic patients under home based care by September 28, he urged them to continue working closely with the Community Health Volunteers to ensure that the disease doesn’t spread.