This archive report was first published on 13 July 2020.
July 13, 2020 - Kenya's COVID-19 testing landscape has undergone a significant shift as the Health ministry seeks to curb corruption in the sector.
State testing centres, including the National Public Health Laboratory Services, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri), have stopped testing the public, a move that will affect many who rely on free screening.
The decision comes after a nurse at KNH was charged alongside one of the recipients of a coronavirus-free certificate at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi.
According to a memo to all directors and heads of departments, senior director of clinical services at KNH, Dr Irene Inwani, directed the head of Unit Respiratory Infectious Diseases to stop all screening activities and public testing at the KNH Mbagathi IDU.
"The head of Unit Respiratory Infectious Diseases is directed to stop all the screening activities and public testing at the KNH Mbagathi IDU," she stated.
Kemri, on the other hand, announced it would no longer collect COVID-19 samples for testing, but would instead test samples from designated testing centres following claims that private facilities were charging for tests that were conducted at the agency using donated kits.
Government officials have downplayed the effectiveness of wider testing, while critics accuse them of doing so to hide a shortage of test kits.
Mr Peterson Wachira, the chairman of the clinical officers union, expressed concern over the decision not to test widely and systematically, despite the benefits of such a strategy as seen in other countries like South Korea.
"The commitment by the government to move from targeted testing to mass testing was great. However, now with this backtracking of State institutions like KNH, which says it will not test suspected cases, we're in trouble because a majority of cases are asymptomatic and lack of screening and testing sites, especially in public facilities, could be detrimental to the fight against COVID-19," he said.
