This archive report was first published on 17 July 2020.
On July 17, 2020, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe warned Kenyans against going for COVID-19 testing in private laboratories and testing centers, citing irregularities in results from the Lancet laboratory.
During a working tour in Nakuru, assessing the county's preparedness towards managing the COVID-19 pandemic, Kagwe noted that the government's responsibility is to ensure that all agencies engaged in the war against the COVID-19 pandemic stick to the laid down guidelines.
He directed the Kenya Medical Board to institute investigations against the Lancet laboratory, promising that action will be taken, including revoking its operating license, should it be found to have messed up with the testing procedures.
The warning comes after 17 staffers at Nakuru-based St. Andrews Turi international school tested negative for COVID-19 following a retesting done at the Kenya Medical and Research Institute (KEMRI) laboratory, after initially testing positive at the Lancet laboratory.
‘It is the same laboratory that had tested some group in Nairobi and the same thing happened,' Kagwe said.
He added, ‘why should you go for testing in a laboratory when you know that the result you are going to get are questionable.'
