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.