Cabinet Secretary (SC) in charge of Health Sen. Mutahi Kagwe has lauded efforts put in place by the Kisii County Government to assist in fighting Covid-19.
The CS commended efforts by Governor James Ongwae in setting up 388 beds at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital (KTRH) and other outlying facilities saying the county was well prepared in case it records Covid-19 surge.
“It is impressing that Governor Ongwae has managed to increase the bed capacity to 388 that include 15 ICU beds with ventilators. I am happy that Kisii is in a position to manage severe cases,” said the CS.
He was speaking at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital during his regular visits to counties to assess the preparedness to fight the Covid-19 Pandemic.
“I must also note that there is a 400-bed quarantine facility at the Kenya Medical Training Institute (KMTC)- Kisii branch and at the Kisii School. Bwana governor, nakupa hongera kwa kazi nzuri na kwa kujali wakenya (I salute you Governor for the excellent work and for minding the welfare of citizens),” he said.
At the same time, the CS observed that the County has had all 2,281 health workers sensitized on Covid-19 with more than 400 of them trained on infection prevention.
The Health CS indicated that as the cases continue to increase across the Country, it will no longer be possible to refer cases away from respective Counties hence need to have the capacity to manage such cases at the county level.
He complimented medics at the KTRH for handling the Case of the late Nurse Marian Awour Adumba effectively though it was a referral from Homa Bay county.
“We appreciate Kisii for taking it up. However, moving forward, cases such as that should be handled in Counties where they are confirmed. Counties should have the capacities of handling their Covid-19 cases,” he said as he condoled with her family.
The Health CS who was accompanied by Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Government Coordination Fred Matiang’i, Chairman Council of Governors Wycliffe Oparanya, Kisii Senator Prof. Sam Ongeri, Members of Parliament Janet Ong’era, Jimmy Angwenyi, Richard Tong’i, Richard Onyonga among other leaders toured the newly built Marani Sub- County with 100-bed capacity.
Kagwe and Matiangi said the national government will jointly work with the county to equip the hospital. Ongwae said, the hospital is also set to have an ultra-outpatient block that will house a laboratory, a dental unit, a pharmacy, x-ray departments, state-of-the-art casualty block with an accident and emergency section, surgical theatre and a surgical ward.
Matiang’i said the county government’s efforts to establish a Cancer Center will help cancer patients who travel to Nairobi to search for services.
“I want to very sincerely and publicly thank Governor Ongwae for the strong leadership he has shown and the development works that is going on. There are areas in the country where certain things are not moving but you can see for yourself that a lot of good work is happening in Kisii because of very strong collaboration between the county and the national government,” said Matiang’i.
