•The hospital laboratory will be carrying out 960 tests every eight hours.
•First Covid-19 patient in Eldoret being treated by the Moi Referral Hospital
Image: BY MATHEWS NDANYI
The Moi Teaching and Referral hospital in Eldoret will on Tuesday begin testing for Covid-19 following approval by the government.
CEO of the hospital Dr Wilson Aruasa and Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago said the hospital has received testing reagents from the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority.
The hospital laboratory will be testing 960 samples every eight hours.
Dr Aruasa said arrangements are also underway to get rapid test kits from the government.
Mandago said they are also preparing to get all those who may have been infected and minimise further infections.
"The tests being done at the Moi Referral Hospital will ensure we have lesser time to get the results than was the case when samples had to be taken to Nairobi and take several days,” said Mandago.
Medical teams had also successfully searched and isolated several possible contacts after the hospital confirmed that the first case of Covid-19 in Eldoret was a patient under the care of the hospital.
Dr Aruasa said the female patient had been evaluated at MTRH Isolation Unit on Monday April 6.
The patient was the first to test positive out of the over 105,000 persons screened at MTRH so far.
“She had very minimal contacts most of whom have been traced and necessary measures taken,” said Dr Aruasa.
He said the househelp who lived with the lady had already been taken into isolation but her test results were yet to be received from Nairobi.
“It’s a plus that the patient really tried to avoid many contacts but we are still following up to get all details,” said Dr Aruasa.
Dr Aruasa said the patient is a middle-aged lady who had been in UK for two weeks, traveled through JKIA to Eldoret International Airport on March 22.
"She had been asymptomatic all along her 14 day quarantine at the place in Eldoret where she had been staying alone with a househelp. She has had minimal contacts with anyone else," said Dr Aruasa.
He said the patient remains stable under MTRH care.
"The MTRH care team are evaluating her and will put her on appropriate management as per the Ministry of Health/ WHO/ MTRH COVID-19 Management Protocols."
He said MTRH staff always use appropriate PPEs when handling all patients under investigation for Covid-19.
The hospital has stepped up safety measures for all its workers as Governor Mandago said the county of Uasin Gishu would step up enforcement of measures to control spread of the disease.
“We are working with the hospital and all other relevant stakeholders to ensure that we enforce the protective measures and we urge residents to fully adhere to all the measures in place,” said Mandago.
He said the counties under the North Rift Economic Bloc (Noreb) had beefed up all its isolation facilities as part of preparedness to handle spread of Covid-19 in the region.