County Governments to take proactive approach towards the fight against Covid

Council of Governors have said that they will take a proactive approach
towards the fight against Covid-19 to avoid a policy paralysis that has been witnessed in other Countries.

In a statement, the council said that it will issue weekly situational reports on the status of the caseload, measures taken, gaps and interventions put in place.

“The County Governments in collaboration with National Government through the County Intergovernmental Emergency Committees will undertake drills to
prepare for the worst case scenario so that we are not caught off-guard,” read the statement.

The council also reported that in the recent weeks, County Governments of Nakuru, Kakamega, Meru, Uasin Gishu, Murang’a, Nyeri and Kisumu have posted an increase in the number of infections which is likely to overwhelm the health system in the Counties if the situation persists.

According to the council, there is an emerging trend where some individuals who have been vaccinated are no longer observing the Covid-19 measures due to the
misguided notion that the vaccine guarantees immunity of contracting the
virus.

“This will defeat the effort by both levels of Government and we call upon all Kenyans, to social distance, wear masks and cover both nose and mouth and wash hands/sanitize regularly. This is the sure way of beating the virus,” stated the council.

The council said that county governments will embark on an advocacy programme to enlighten citizens on the need for those who are supposed to take the Covid-19 vaccine to do so.

On the status of bed capacity in 31 Counties the council reported that the isolation has increased by 50 due to patients who have recovered from Covid infection, bringing the total number of available beds to 6,253 beds.

The number of ICU bed has also increased by 15 bringing the total number of available beds to 312.

“HDU beds, last week, the total number of available beds in the facilities was 114. This number has reduced by 4 bringing the total number of available beds to 110,” the council reported.

Cumulatively in 31 Counties, a total of 469,496 doses have been received out of which 379,572 doses have been administered to 73,690 healthcare workers, 32,000
Security, 69,035 Teachers and 204,847 others.

“We note that the demand for the Covid-19 vaccine has increased over the week with more uptake by individuals above the age of 58. County Governments have increased the centres for vaccination as they anticipate demand for vaccine uptake in subsequent phases of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout,” said the council.

In view of high demand for oxygen, the council reported that Counties such as Nakuru has increased production of oxygen cylinders from 40 cylinders per day to 120.

Additionally, Kisumu County has two oxygen generating plants with combined capacity of 375 litres per minute running at full capacity.

Further, the County has 6000 kg of liquid oxygen storage tank with an average weekly usage of 3000 kg.

“As demand continues to rise in the Lake region Economic Bloc, Counties have put in place internal mechanisms to ensure that they cushion each other in the event of a surge,” the council said.

However, the council said that the testing of Covid-19 by Counties has been compromised due to lack of testing kits.

Out of the 31 county governments that reported, only 23 are able to test either by RDT or PCR Tests.

“We therefore urge the Ministry of Health to avail testing kits in order to upscale Covid-19 testing across the Counties to curb the spread of the virus,” the council urged.