This archive report was first published on 31 August 2021.
On August 31, 2021, Kenya's Ministry of Health admitted that its daily statistics on Covid-19 deaths may be inaccurate due to the lack of pathologists in the counties.
Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache told a parliamentary committee that the ministry can only confirm deaths that occur within hospitals and post-mortem exams of a few that happen within the community.
Ms Mochache explained that the ministry relies on pathologists to confirm Covid-19-related deaths, but there are only four officers who conduct such examinations at the Ministry of Health headquarters.
“People are dying in numbers but we cannot give evidence that the community death occurs as a result of Covid-19 complications when issues of pathology are absent at counties,” she said.
Ms Mochache acknowledged that the country is already on the fourth wave of coronavirus, citing the rising number of deaths in communities as evidence.
She assured the committee that the ministry is working with counties and the provincial administration to monitor community deaths.
