There will be no airlifting of Covid patients to Nairobi — CS Kagwe says

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe on Wednesday maintained that airlifting of Covid-19 patients from other counties to Nairobi will not happen due to bed space.

Speaking during a press briefing in Makueni County, Kagwe emphasized the need for counties to upgrade their health care since the projections indicate that Nairobi might be overwhelmed in the next few weeks.

“All counties except five have reported COVID-19 cases. It will just be a matter of time before all counties are affected. We must take action to limit the spread failure to which our healthcare facilities risk being overwhelmed.

“There will be no airlifting of people from other counties to Nairobi since it will not have the capacity. Where we are heading is so unpredictable,” said Kagwe.

The Ministry of Health has reported 278 new coronavirus cases from 3,053 samples tested in the last 24 hours, raising the number of cases in Kenya to 8,528.

Kagwe on Wednesday said the total number of tests done since the first case was reported in March now stands at 196, 508.

89 patients had also been discharged from various hospitals bringing the total number of recoveries to 2,593.

Unfortunately, two patients have succumbed to the virus raising the fatalities to 169.

While speaking in Makueni County, the CS applauded the County for its committed efforts in combating the spread of the virus. Makueni is among counties with few coronavirus cases.

Out of the newly reported cases, Makueni County had 44 cases from a sample size of 299.

Kagwe said the Kivutha Kibwana-led county had embraced home-based care and upscaled the level of preparedness even as the virus continued to spread in most of the counties.