COVID-19 Cases Continue to Rise in Kenya

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose to 122 in Kenya this week as the Government of Kenya enacted new measures to limit community transmission while continuing to prepare the healthcare system to manage an anticipated increase in the number of cases. While the first several confirmed cases in Kenya appeared to be from people who had travelled abroad, there does now seem to be transmission within the community. There continue to be no confirmed cases at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.  

Kenya Ministry of Health reminder

The AMPATH partnership has always been led by Kenyans, and our AMPATH partners at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) and regional leaders in the surrounding counties continue to support the Kenya Ministry of Health response in a variety of ways including education about physical distancing, hand washing and symptom recognition. AMPATH North American Consortium members are assisting by working to define clinical management protocols, advocating for involvement in clinical trials when available, and sharing new updates with Kenyan colleagues on a daily basis. The CDC in Kenya assists with surveillance, prevention and contact tracing. 

Testing capacity is scaling up throughout the country and MTRH expects to be able to test for COVID-19 within the next week or two. However, testing commodities including swabs and reagents, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE), continue to be in short supply. All available channels for procurement are being explored, as are methods for decontamination and reuse of PPE.

Even as the AMPATH team turns resources toward fighting this pandemic, every effort is being made to maintain essential clinical services. Partners are also exploring ways the AMPATH Medical Records System (AMRS) can be used to aid data collection and assess the impact of the virus on delivery of other health services.

AMPATH and all of Kenya face a long period of uncertainty ahead. This pandemic has had dramatic global economic consequences, and vulnerable people in countries such as Kenya will feel that impact long after the virus has been tamed.

As professor Joe Mamlin, one of AMPATH’s founding physicians reflected, “One thing is for sure, this crisis will pass and the AMPATH Kenya collaboration will move forward stronger than ever. It is hard to imagine any crisis that could underscore more powerfully the need to rush toward a Kenyan Ministry of Health care network capable of providing comprehensive care while protecting the poor with universal health insurance.” 

Thank you for your continued care and support for the people of Kenya and our AMPATH colleagues.

For daily updates on the situation in Kenya, please follow the Kenya Ministry of Health on Facebook or Twitter or visit their website at http://www.health.go.ke/covid-19/.