Mombasa County to settle bills of people in isolation

Expenses incurred by people under quarantine over Covid-19 in Mombasa will be paid by the county government, Health Executive Hazel Koitaba (pictured) has said.

Koitaba said the county will also foot the bills for patients of Covid-19 treated in public hospitals, especially, at the Coast Provincial General Hospital. This will be a big relief for the more than 200 people quarantined in various facilities in Coast and some of the 79 patients being treated at the Coast General Hospital.

“We will isolate and treat them at our own cost,” Ms Koitaba said on Thursday adding that the county had intensified its response by setting up more isolation centres.

As at Thursday last week, 199 people had been isolated in various quarantine centres in Mombasa. According to the government, Mombasa had 79 confirmed Covid-19 cases by last Friday.

Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) said it costs between Sh2,500 and 23,000 a day for one to be quarantined in private and public facilities across the country.

The cost of the isolation varies depending on the facility one is quarantined, according to the rates issued by KMPDC on March 24.

In Mombasa, most of those isolated in public facilities said they are charged an average of Sh2,000 per day, a cost the county has undertaken to pay.

Hue and cry has greeted the national government directive that those under mandatory quarantine should foot their own bills, which run to over Sh40,000 after a 21-day stay.

Extra beds

Governor Hassan Joho, in conjunction with private hospitals in Mombasa, have launched a 300-bed capacity isolation centre at the Technical University of Mombasa. The institution has capacity of an extra 200-beds, which will take the number of beds to 500.

At Coast General Hospital, Koitaba said the isolation centre has a capacity of 150 beds, which include 22 in the Intensive Care Units.

Mombasa County is also setting up a 30-bed isolation centre at Likoni School for the Blind in Likoni.

“This will enable us quarantine 680 people at a go,” said Koitaba. “We have re-deployed essential health workers from five hospitals to bolster service delivery at these centres”. She added that the five affected health centres have been closed.

The government has extended cessation of movement in Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale counties to stem spread of virus.