This archive report was first published on 5 June 2020.
Published on June 5, 2020, the Kenyan health ministry is on the verge of adopting home-based care protocols for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.
According to Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, the move will enable the release of asymptomatic patients held at isolation facilities across the country.
More than 80 percent of patients in hospitals are asymptomatic, and the ministry aims to manage them at home to minimize congestion at health facilities.
"If this is implemented, it will free our health facilities from congestion," Kagwe said. "In Nairobi alone, Mbagathi Hospital and Kenyatta University (KU) hospitals are already getting to full capacity."
The new protocols will facilitate the smooth running of hospitals managing COVID-19 patients, according to Acting Director General Patrick Amoth.
"The home-based care is a key intervention approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and is meant to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed," Amoth added.
The ministry is still working on customizing the protocols to conform to WHO standards.
For families unable to conform to home-based care regulations, the government will facilitate community-based care.
"The time has come when we must begin to implement systems in our own place depending on our environment," Kagwe said.
