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Two-year-old baby is latest victim as mass tests set to begin

 Ministry of Health Chief Administrative Secretary Dr Mercy Mwangangi. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

As the country prepares for mass testing in the next two weeks, two more cases of Covid-19 were reported yesterday. The two were found in Nairobi and Mombasa.

Among those diagnosed yesterday is a two-year-old child. This brings the number of people diagnosed with coronavirus to 191. Both cases were people with no history of recent travels.

In a briefing on state of Covid-19 in the country, Ministry of Health Director-General Patrick Amoth said they have received testing kits, and in the next 21 days, will conduct mass testing in several facilities across the country. He said they have machines at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Kenya Medical Research Centre (Kemri), Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTHR) and Coast general hospitals that are expected to scale up the testing.

“When the tests start, we are likely to get more cases,” he said, dimming optimism that has been rising in the country following recent trends where fewer numbers have been recorded.

Ministry of Health Chief Administrative Secretary Dr Mercy Mwangangi said the next three weeks will be crucial as the ministry embarks on targeted tests to medics and other members of the public.

“We have decided to engage the tuberculosis facilities so that more tests can be done,” she said, adding that there are more than 100 of such facilities available.

On Friday, Kemri deputy director of Prof Matilu Mwau said they have started using Cobalt 8800 machine to test some samples taken to other labs.

“The machine has a capacity to test 37,938 samples in one day. The results are also very fast, and this is good news because people will not have to wait too long to know if they have the virus,” said Mwau.

Dr Amoth said one of the challenges they have been facing is access to the testing kits since there is a global shortage. 

Dr Mwangangi said the ministry is following the models that have worked for different countries by looking at case studies in countries like Italy, USA, and China to find out if there are strategies they can pick in fighting the pandemic. 

Meanwhile, following complaints from people quarantined in hotels over exorbitant charges levied against them, Dr Mwangangi said they are in talks with the hotels to come up with an amicable way to sort the bills. “We are reviewing the issue on a case by case basis,” she said amid complaints on social media. 

Further, Dr Amoth dismissed claims that Kenya is doing badly compared to other East African nations that have recorded fewer cases in the last few weeks. He said the main reason why the numbers in Kenya seem higher than other countries is that Kenya has been doing more tests compared to the others.

Elsewhere, ministry of health officials, Amref and Megascope Healthcare Ltd have airlifted personal protective equipment (PPEs), thermal gun thermometers, testing kits, a suction machine, a ventilator and other critical medical items to Mandera County. This will help the county government in the fight against the virus ravaging the world. 

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