NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 27- The Council of Governors (CoG) is set to conduct drills across the 47 Counties to prepare for the worst COVID-19 scenario.
Kenya started experiencing the third wave of COVID-19 in February 2021 and had recorded 156,981 cases and 2,643 deaths by April 27, 2021.
The Council’s Health Committee Chairperson Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o said Counties of Kirinyaga, Nyeri, Nakuru and Meru among others are recording increased cases of the virus and respective county hospitals might be overwhelmed.
“To avoid a policy paralysis that has been witnessed in other countries, all the 47 County Governments will take a proactive approach towards the fight against COVID-19. To this end, County Governments will issue weekly situational reports on the status of caseload, measures taken and intervention put in place,” Nyong’o said.
“The County Governments will also undertake drills to prepare for the worst case scenario.”
While calling on vigilance among Kenyans, the Kisumu governor further pointed out that 48 Kenyan doctors who were sent to Cuba for specialized studies for family medicine are back in the country and will be of help in the counties for the next 9 months
“There is also an emerging trend where vaccinated individuals are no longer observing COVID-19 measures. This will defeat efforts made by both levels of government. We, therefore, call on Kenyans to follow protocols and help in flattening the curve,” Nyong’o urged.
CoG however decried lack of funds in the Counties which is now a hindrance in the fight against the virus that has left 2,643 dead and 156,981 others infected.
Nyong’o said National Treasury owes the Counties Sh70.2 billion of which 3.9 billion is owed to Nairobi County, Sh13.3 billion owed to all counties for the month of February while 25 and Sh28 billion is owed to them for the month of March and April respectively.
With only two months left to the end of the financial year, CoG has urged the Treasury to disburse the monies without further delay.
Nyong’o further said the testing of the virus has been compromised by lack of testing kits which is also attributed to lack of enough financial resources.
Of the 31 Counties that had reported their situation by Tuesday morning, 379,572 COVID-19 vaccines had been administered.
Of these, 73,690 were among health workers, 32,000 security workers, 69,035 teachers and 204,847 other Kenyans.
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