Speaking during the daily Covid press briefings in Kilifi County, Ministry of Health Director General Patrick Amoth, said that among those health workers infected with the virus 160 are females while 132 are male.
“Most of the people who take care of Covid-19 positive cases in the isolation centers are nurses and majority of our nurses are female,” Dr. Amoth said.
So far according to the DG, 90 per cent of Covid cases in the country are asymptomatic while only 10 per cent get mild to moderate and critical cases.
“This could be attributed to our demographic profile. If you look at the African population profile we have close to 60 to 65 per cent of the population being young people below age of 25 and therefore they tend to get a mild form of the disease,” said Dr. Amoth.
In addition, 44 people are in ICU, of which 22 are on ventilator support while the 22 others are on supplemental oxygen treatment.
Dr. Amoth revealed that it will cost an asymptomatic patient who has tested positive for coronavirus Sh 21,300 for treatment.
“Those with a mild form of the disease with symptoms such as a mild cough or slight difficulty in breathing cost becomes Sh21,400 per day while patients with a severe form of Covid-19 who require supplementary oxygen are taken care of at a cost of Sh51,000 per day.”
“If you require ICU critical care support including intubation and ventilator support the figure goes to Sh71,000 per day,” he further added.
According to the DG it is important to put measures in place to practice home based care since a big portion of the population are getting the mild form of the disease.
“It is imperative that we develop strategies to ensure that we can be able to manage some of these people at home. Based on the WHO criteria of home based care, together with our case management team, we have customized protocols from WHO to suite our local environment, and now we are managing a number of people at home because majority of our people are still asymptomatic. It is based on an agreed criteria that has to be met and verified by the health workers, “said Dr. Amoth.
