Coronavirus - Kenya: CS Kagwe tours Makueni as Covid-19 rise to 8,528 Makueni July 8, 2020 278 more people have tested positive for coronavirus from a sample of 3,053, that was run in the last 24 hours NAIROBI, Kenya, July 9, 2020/APO Group/ -- Today, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Mutahi Kagwe toured the county of Makueni to assess the level of preparedness in the fight against COVID -19. The CS who was accompanied by the County Deputy Governor Andelina Mwau, CAS Health Dr. Mercy Mwangangi, Ag. Director General Dr. Patrick Amoth and County Commissioner, Mohammed Maalim announced that 278 more people have tested positive for coronavirus from a sample of 3,053, that was run in the last 24 hours. This now brings the total number of case load in the country to 8,528, from a total of 196,508 samples tested so far. “I am here with officers from the Ministry to be in solidarity with the people of Makueni in this fight against COVID-19, and to determine the nature of support the county requires to upgrade the healthcare facilities,” the CS said.
Makueni County, in particular, has been extremely organized, and has demonstrated a high standard of readiness. The County has achieved the 300 bed isolation capacity in line with the directive by the President. Alongside this isolation facility capacity, are (2) ICU and 20 HDU beds, plus (2) quarantine facilities as part of the county preparedness.
The total number of infections in the county places Makueni at number 12 overall. Out of the country positive  case load of 8,528, 44 cases are from Makueni County from a sample size of 299.
“It is important to note that, among those already exposed to the virus are our healthcare workers, who continue to work under difficult conditions and circumstances, as they offer critical service to our people,” the CS said.
Currently, 257 healthcare workers have fallen victim to this virus, out of which, 4 are from Makueni County.
“For all those who have been exposed, I want to assure them that the Government is committed to ensuring that all our front line soldiers are protected at all times by making available the necessary PPEs and other commodities,” he noted.
The CS thanked all the healthcare workers for putting their lives at risk, as they manage patients. “There can never be a higher level of individual sacrifice than this. As a Nation, we are all indebted to you,” he said. He explained that the Ministry of Health will continue to work very closely with the counties to upscale their level of readiness to deal with COVID-19 pandemic.
He added that the government has hired 252 healthcare personnel of all cadres for Makueni County to boost human resource capacity, while the process of hiring another 110 is on-going.
 “The need to upgrade our level of preparedness should not lay focus on physical infrastructure only, but also human resource capacity, as well as the level of compliance with the containment measures by our people,” he said. He also emphasized that Coronavirus  disease cannot be fought by the Government alone without the cooperation of the people. “Each and every one of us has a role to play in ensuring that the containment measures advocated for by the Government, are observed. This is the only way that we can suppress the spread of this virus,” he said.
The virus he said is now well established at the community level.  All counties, except 5, have reported cases of COVID-19. “It may be realistic to state that, it is just a matter of time before all the 47 counties are affected, “ he stated and urged the people to take every action to limit the further spread of the virus in each county, without which, our healthcare facilities risk being overwhelmed. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Health, Kenya.