President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed the Ministry of Health to retain retired ICU staff to support medical workers in the counties.
"The Ministry of Health will develop a protocol to temporarily retain retired anesthetists and ICU staff to support the medical staff assigned to dealing with serious Covid-19 cases in the Counties,"he said.
Speaking during his State Address on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Monday, Uhuru noted that 70 per cent of county governments have already met the set irreducible minimum agreed on weeks ago.
As of July 24, there were at least 50 of Kenya's active Coronavirus patients in Intensive Care according to Director of Public Health Dr Francis Kuria
This was out of 1,179 patients who were in various medical facilities in the country by then.
On this day, the country's capacity stood at 12,513 normal isolation beds and 498 ICU beds.
On Monday, five more Kenyans died raising fatalities in the country to 285.
Four hundred and forty new cases were reported raising the country's total to 17,975 .
Uhuru said, due to the surging numbers of new infection and with consultation with key stakeholders, he extended the nationwide curfew for another 30 days.
He also issued a ban on selling alcohol in restaurants and eateries for the next 30 days, effective midnight on Monday.
Uhuru said all bars will remain closed indefinitely, adding that those that don't adhere will have their licences permanently withdrawn.
