This archive report was first published on 19 May 2020.
On Monday, May 18, 2020, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe made a passionate appeal for equitable access to Covid-19 tools during the 73rd World Health Assembly via Zoom.
He emphasized the need for the pharmaceutical industry to weigh its profit motive and support the response to the pandemic.
Kenya joins calls for concerted efforts aimed at ensuring universal, timely, and equitable access to Covid-19 tools, Kagwe said.
Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman announced plans to set up Covid-19 laboratories at border points to reduce the time truck drivers wait to get results.
The laboratories will be established in Migori, Taita Taveta, and Lunga Lunga, and will help reduce the time it takes for results to be out at the Namanga border point.
Currently, it takes four days for results to be out at the Namanga border point, a situation that has led truckers to complain.
However, the government is still struggling to get reagents and other commodities to perform the tests due to international supply line limitations.
Twenty-five new Covid-19 cases were reported out of 1,139 tested samples, with 23 males and two females testing positive.
The cases were reported in Kajiado, Mombasa, Nairobi, Kiambu, Kwale, Taita Taveta, Garissa, and Meru counties.
