The government is making plans for decentralised Covid-19 testing, the Health ministry said Saturday, amid lack of clarity about where to get tested for the virus.
Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, during a daily briefing at the Kakamega County Referral Hospital, said there were 32 testing facilities across the country and that more were being set up.
Counties without testing centres have to transport samples to Nairobi and other parts nearest to them for testing, meaning results could take days to be sent back.
Dr Patrick Amoth, acting Director-General for Health Services, said the challenge in setting up centres has been due to lack of reagents applicable to testing systems as they are manufactured in countries in the West and far East so they are not readily available.
Amid plans for decentralised testing, CS Kagwe asked counties with few cases of the virus to intensify contact tracing.
The ministry and experts have noted that the figures released daily are not an accurate reflection of the country’s situation.
As of August 8, Kenya had a total of 25,837 confirmed Covid-19 cases, including 418 deaths and 11,899 recoveries, most of them from the home-based care programme, which Dr Amoth would be the focus.
Source: Daily Nation
