NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 8 – Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has directed immediate testing of all medical personnel, and support staff as the government upscaled measures to curtail the spread of Coronavirus in the country.
Kagwe, who spoke during a daily news briefing on Tuesday, said all health workers including those in private hospitals and the rapid response teams in facilities holding quarantine persons will undergo the mandatory tests as part of elaborate measures to stop the spread of infections.
“Testing of all health workers and medical staff including those in private hospitals, rapid response teams and all staff in facilities holding quarantine people must commence immediately,” he said.
Kagwe said the government can now conduct on-site testing in the facilities which will be carried out on the medics before eventually being rolled out to Kenyans.
“We are lucky we have started rapid testing, we have new reagents that will enable us to test automatically without using manual systems as we did before,” he said.
According to Health Chief Cabinet Administrative Secretary Dr. Mercy Mwangangi, testing of the coronavirus by the Ministry of Health is free for anyone who meets the testing criteria.
Kenya reported 14 more cases on Tuesday, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 172 with 3 new recoveries.
The Health CS has urged Kenyans to brace for tougher times ahead as the disease continues to spread, having killed 4 people so far.
Globally, more than one million people have been infected, with fatalities now over 75,000, more than half of it in Europe and the United States of America.
“Let us be ready because all the measures that we are going to take will not stop the disease abruptly, It is already here with us,” Kagwe warned.
The government has ordered the closure of all Golf Clubs in the country with immediate effect, saying that the clubs offer a ripe ground for the spread of the virus.
“Golf clubs have also been abused, all golf clubs must be closed with immediate effect. Golfers are free to walk while keeping social distance but there will be no caddies in any of those golf clubs,” the Health CS said.
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