As counties put in motion measures to prepare for the possible outbreak of Covid-19 in their areas, questions abound on their level of  preparedness to deal with the disease.

A spot check by People Daily in various hospitals has raised questions on whether the health facilities are adequately equipped to admit patients with coronavirus should the numbers rise, as most of them lack basic equipment.

Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun) secretary general Seth Panyako has expressed concern that nothing much has been done in counties.

He asked governors to stop playing Public Relations (PR) games in the war against the spread of Covid-19  and instead put in place proper measures to curb the virus.

Panyako noted how governors have gone  public “bragging of how they have put in place proper measures in their county health facilities to tackle coronavirus when in the real sense nothing has been done”.

Lack of amenities

“Let our governors not play PR game with the war against coronavirus. The truth on the ground is that most of the counties do not have screening machines which they can use to screen patients suspected to have been infected with the Covid-19,” said Panyako.

He said the counties’ move to create isolation space for suspected patients is not enough as having equipment to screen the virus and drugs to fight the virus is more important.

He added that most of the counties have no testing kits and are forced to take blood samples to Nairobi.

The ability of isolation wards in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nyeri and Embu counties to tackle corona cases has also been highly questioned.

At the isolation centre in Mbagathi Hospital, Nairobi , although the government has clarified that the centre is well equipped to isolate patients, concerns have been raised over how patients locked up at the facility have are treated.

Multiple sources who did not want to be named said that although quarantine is mandatory, the environment in which the patients are being held is unfriendly.

Among the challenges patients have been faced with, said the sources, is lack of adequate information on their condition, being held in one room as well as lack of adequate amenities that have forced them to even shower with cold water.

“Things as not so rosy at Mbagathi and that is why one patient ran away from the facility,” said the source who did not want to be named.

Help in diagnosis

In Embu, although four people who recently travelled from overseas are currently quarantined, the county has not been able to test them due to lack of proper equipment.

In Mombasa, although Governor Hassan Joho assured that the county is well prepared, a spot check showed that among the 19 isolation rooms, only five have been installed with ventilators and monitor systems to handle patients with severe cases.

This means that the ward will only be able to handle up to five patients with severe cases whenever such an emergency arises.  “Whenever we feel there is need to increase the capacity we are prepared. At the same time we have mobilised the private sector and they have agreed to come on board and help us in this fight…”  said Joho  after inspecting an isolation ward.

In Nyeri, despite the county setting up a quarantine and isolation centre at Mount Kenya Sub-county Hospital, there seems to be incapacity should the virus hit the county given its expansive size and a large population yet only 21 beds and one ambulance are available for corona cases.

Save for hand sanitising, there are no other preventive measures that have been put in place in all other health facilities around the county.

In Nakuru, the county government established a 12-bed capacity isolation ward at the Nakuru Level Five Hospital that has seen four specialists being deployed to the facility to help in diagnosis and efficient management of the disease that the United Nations has declared a global epidemic.

Seek tests

Meanwhile in Kisumu county, the government has put in place drastic preventive measures after a British national residing in the area was isolated for exhibiting symptoms similar to those of Covid-19.

Kisumu has 70 beds fully equipped to deal with the virus but the beds are situated in three different isolation centres. The main hospital in the county, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) boasts of 30 isolation beds while Kisumu County Hospital (KCH) situated in the heart of the Central Business District has 20. 

At the same time, there is an upsurge of patients seeking coronavirus tests at Ruiru Level Five Hospital in Kiambu county.

Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr. Keziah Nginya said most of the patients seeking tests have  fever while others cough.

The increase follows reports that a quarantined taxi driver from Mukuru slum in Nairobi had dropped off a client in Ruiru town before taking himself to a health centre in Mukuru. The driver is reported to have exhibited signs  of the virus before he was put in isolation at the Mbagathi Hospital.

Area MP Simon King’ara called on the national government to arm the citizenry with protective gear to avert further spread of the disease.

“Precaution is very important. Report all suspected cases and don’t ignore,” he said. –Reporting by Mercy Mwai, Enock Amukhale, Reuben Mwambingu,Brian Musyoka,Roy Lumbe,Seth Mwaniki, Mathew Ndung’u and  James Magayi