Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital chief administrator Iqbal Khandwalla says the hospital is to be equipped with a new oxygen plant.
“I want to confirm that soon we will be getting a brand new 600-litre-per-minute oxygen plant at Coast General hospital, which will sufficiently supply all Covid-19 isolation wards,” he said on Wednesday.
Dr Khandwalla dismissed claims of the facility having a shortage of oxygen, saying the hospital is being supplied with oxygen by the national government.
“The government has organised oxygen to be supplied to us through Kemsa, which comes in the form of liquid oxygen from Nairobi,” he said.
However, Khandwalla said sometimes the truck may be late for an hour or so, but the hospital has a backup oxygen tank and cylinders.
This comes as the region continues to record high infection and mortality due to Covid-19. In June, Mombasa recorded a positivity of 7.1 per cent.
According to statistics issued by Public Health chief officer Pauline Oginga, the positivity rate increased in the month of July to 15 per cent.
Oginga said that the fatality rate increased from 1.9 to 2.2 per cent.
“If you look at the number of admission in our hospitals, 144 patients are admitted across the 13 isolation centres in Mombasa county,” she said.
Oginga said among the 144 patients, five are on ventilator support, while eight are on supplementary oxygen in the intensive care units.
A further eight are on observation in the ICU, 48 are on supplemental oxygen in general wards and 75 are in the general isolation ward.
“If you look at bed occupancy in coast general hospital, in the month of June we had a total number of 37 patients admitted.
"In July, however, the number increased to 166 patients, the mortality rate also increased from 36 in the month of June to 89 in the month of July,” she said.
Oginga said Covid-19 cases have doubled, hence community members should take individual responsibility and protect themselves from the disease.
Recently, Mombasa recorded high infection among healthcare workers, with 50 contracting Covid-19.
Oginga said most healthcare workers give private treatment in households, something which has contributed towards a high positivity rate among them.
“There is no special virus for healthcare workers and special virus for the community, the same virus attacks people across the board.
"So if you risk by going to a household that has a case without proper protective gear or proper training, you stand a chance of getting the virus from that house to your workplace,” she said.
The Health chief said the department has talked to the union to inform healthcare workers to stop doing private treatment to curb transmissions.
According to a report issued by the Health department, Mombasa has a cumulative number of 13,699 patients who tested positive and 299 fatalities.
Out of the 21,659 people who have received their first and second dose, 3,416 are health workers, 2,360 teachers, 970 security officers, eight intersex persons, 5,741 under the cohort of 58 years and above and 9,172 reported as others.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
