•The Council of Governors has noted that the rate of infections in Kisumu is worrying
•There seems to be an increase in the number of patients under the home based care programme
Residents of 10 counties that are neighbouring Kisumu have been urged to ensure strict adherence to laid down Covid-19 containment measures and protocols.
They include Siaya, Homa Bay, Migori, Kisii, Nyamira, Busia, Bungoma, Vihiga, Kericho and Bomet.
The Council of Governors has noted that the rate of infections in Kisumu is worrying, with the county recording an average weekly positivity rate of 28.4 per cent.
The county has been battling with a surge in infections due to the presence and circulation of the Indian variant, a situation that is likely to be fueled by the recent Madaraka Day event that was celebrated in the county a week ago.
“As the council, we are working closely with the Kisumu County Covid-19 multi-agency committee to ensure that measures are put in place to contain further spread of the virus,” CoG chair Martin Wambora said.
Wambora noted that even though there has been an overall increase in Covid positive cases, there is a decrease of admissions in the hospitals.
For instance, the number of available isolation beds in isolation centres from a sample of 26 counties has decreased by 138 from 5,922 last week.
“In the last week, the total number of ICU beds available was 194 while this week, the number of available beds is 188, a decrease by six,” Wambora said.
He added: “In the last week, the total number of available beds in the High Dependency Unit facilities was 116. This week, the total number of available beds is 106, marking a decrease by 10.”
However, there seems to be an increase in the number of patients under the home based care programme.
The patients under home isolation this week are 1,623 from 1,320 last week; an increase of 303.
The government has upscaled contact tracing and testing to determine the level of spread of the Indian variant in the community.
The first case of the Indian variant was detected in the country on May 5 with data from the World Health Organisation showing the variant has now spread to at least 50 countries.
The Health Ministry has also increased testing and genomic sequencing of a significant number of people will help determine the extent of spread, and inform whether tougher measures can be taken especially in the Lake region where the first five cases were reported.