KITUI, Kenya, Oct 30 – Kitui health officials upscaled contact tracing on Thursday after three family members who contracted COVID-19 died in a week’s time.
Kitui County Chief officer Health Dr. Richard Muthoka said medical staff had already taken samples from twenty members of the family.
“We have collected 20 samples from the relatives so that we can test them to see if they have the virus and also ask anyone who might have interacted with the family to come forward and do the testing for their own safety,” he said.
Kwa Vonza location Chief, Ronald Mbuvi said Tom Kilonzo Ileve, a Kenya Revenue Authority official, succumbed to the virus having traveled from Mombasa on October 16.
He was taken ill on arrival and was subsequently rushed to Neema Hospital in Kitui County where he died hours after being admitted.
“Tom complained of chest pains when approaching home and the family took him to the hospital the same evening but unfortunately, he died hours after arriving at the hospital,” Dr Muthoka said.
On Sunday, Ileve’s sister Domitila Munyoki fell ill and was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
She is said to have had an underlying condition – diabetes.
The third family members a 90-year-old grandmother, Anne Nzisiva Ileve, died on Thursday after she complained of a headache, fever, and difficulty in breathing.
The bodies of the three family members are being preserved at Kitui Referral Hospital Mortuary awaiting burial.
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