This archive report was first published on 24 August 2020.
Published on August 24, 2020, a report by the Nyeri County Assembly has raised concerns about the county's preparedness to deal with a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Nyeri Governor Mutahi Kahiga had earlier stated that three hospitals in the county have adequate capacity and equipment to handle coronavirus cases. However, the report found that the county had not installed sufficient equipment for patients with acute breathing difficulties.
During a field visit to the Nyeri Referral Hospital, the committee found that the facility's six-bed Intensive Care Unit relied on bulk oxygen, which was only supplied to the unit. The report noted that the holding area had few tanks, making it difficult to provide uninterrupted oxygen supply.
The committee also found that suspected cases, regardless of their criticality, were held in the holding area until confirmed positive, resulting in a long wait for results from Nairobi. This delay was seen as a significant impediment to patients' right to healthcare services.
Confirmed cases from the referral holding area were either referred to Mt Kenya Hospital or Othaya Level 6 hospital for management. However, the report noted that these hospitals dealt with asymptomatic cases and lacked piped oxygen to support critical patients in need of respiratory assistance.
Mt Kenya Hospital, designated as the county's Covid-19 isolation centre, was found to have no piped oxygen. The facility had four oxygen cylinders, five concentrators, and one ventilator, but the ventilator was not operational due to a lack of bulk oxygen.
The report recommended that Governor Mutahi Kahiga use the Sh154 million set aside to fight the pandemic on hospital infrastructure, including the deployment of additional nurses and the installation of piped oxygen systems.
