This archive report was first published on 4 July 2020.
As the Covid-19 pandemic spreads rapidly across Kenya, hospitals are facing a severe shortage of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds, leaving critically ill patients without adequate care.
According to the Ministry of Health, the number of Covid-19 cases continues to increase drastically, with the peak estimated to come in August. As of yesterday, the country recorded 247 cases, bringing the caseload to 7,188 from cumulative samples of 180,206.
At the Aga Khan Hospital, all five Covid-19 ICU beds are full, while the Nairobi Hospital, with eight beds, now only has three left. The Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral, and Research Hospital, with a 24-bed capacity, can only admit eight patients at once due to the patient-nurse ratio.
Dr. Peter Michoma, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Kenyatta National Hospital, is struggling to treat patients due to the lack of bed space. In a desperate plea, he wrote: “I am looking for a ward to admit a severely ill Covid-19 suspect case urgently but I can't find a free ward.”
With both infectious disease units at Kenyatta National Hospital and Mbagathi Hospital already full to capacity, the situation is dire. As one source working at Mbagathi IDU put it, “Yes, we are overwhelmed.”
Health director-general Patrick Amoth has warned that 29 patients are admitted in ICU in various hospitals, with 15 on oxygen support and the remaining 14 on ventilators.
As the situation continues to deteriorate, the Ministry of Health is urging Kenyans to follow containment measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
