Failed contact tracing leaves Covid-19 quarantine centres empty

With a messed-up contact tracing in the country, the number of suspected Covid-19 cases in quarantine facilities has reduced significantly.

Seventeen counties which have quarantine facilities do not have a single person in those centres, according to the Council of Governors (CoG).

In a press release Thursday, CoG Chairman Wycliffe Oparanya said out of 43 counties which had reported active quarantine, there were 859 patients in the facilities, with 976 who previously had been confined having been released.

Due to sustained community transmissions, contact tracing has become difficult especially in Nairobi and other counties with high infections like Kiambu and Mombasa.

But in counties where the cases are few, contact tracing is important, acting Health Director-General Patrick Amoth said Thursday.

Delayed results

The governors complained of a prolonged turnaround time.

“The turnaround time for testing has remained a major bottleneck in the fight against the virus,” said Governor Oparanya.

He explained that CoG staff who had undergone the test on August 14 received results one week later as opposed to the expected 24 hours.

“This begs the question of how much longer it takes for the ordinary mwananchi to receive their results. Further, it poses a huge risk of community infections which, if not addressed in a timely manner, efforts made will be futile,” said the Kakamega governor.

Responding to the issue, Health Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangangi said it could be as a result of sample batching.

“There are delays when it comes to sharing some of the Covid-19 test results occasioned in both public and private testing facilities. There are challenges when it comes to ensuring that 94 samples are available to do a complete successful run,” she said.

Need for efficient system

The Health CAS said there is need for very efficient and agile logistics system to enable batching of 94 requisite samples to enable the machine to do the run every time the samples are collected.

“There are teams which are ensuring that the batching is done in a manner that in a day we are able to run the samples that we collect,” she said.

With the Ministry of Health reporting that 90 per cent of all Covid-19 cases are asymptomatic, CoG urged all Kenyans to be vigilant and to voluntarily undertake the test “to ensure that we stem the local transmissions.”

The CoG urged employers to facilitate testing of their employees to reduce exposure to the virus.

Currently, 10,490 tests have been carried out in 43 counties, of which 740 healthcare workers tested positive.

Earlier, MoH said cumulatively, there 854 healthcare workers who have contracted the virus – 450 male and 404 females – while 15 had died from the disease.

In the 43 counties, there are 1,881 patients in home-based isolation care.

Up to date a total of 1,145 people confined in home-based care have fully recovered, said Mr Oparanya.