There was a protest on Tuesday at the Kericho County Hospital by some Covid-19 patients in isolation.
One of the patients, under seclusion, allegedly sneaked out of isolation ward to look for food in one of the hotels in town.
The Standard Digital learnt that officials at the hospital later pacified the patient with a promise of improved welfare.
In a video that went viral on social media, the patient was captured saying they had been abandoned since health officials from the county government dropped him in the hospital days ago.
The five-minutes video clip captured at the gate leading to the wards at the health center, the patient disclosed that hunger had forced him to sneak out of the facility for breakfast before police officers captured and returned him to the isolation center.
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“I starved throughout the night. That is why I decided to sneak out of the hospital to look for breakfast in a nearby hotel located outside the health facility,” he said.
He added, “But before I could finish taking tea, the hotel owner alerted the police who came and captured me and took me back to the isolation center while some spectators attracted by the commotion hurled stones at me.”
The man revealed that he was brought to the isolation center after he was picked at Litein trading center by Kericho County Covid-19 surveillance team.
“I was initially admitted at Tenwek hospital for ten days before being discharged. While I was at Litein trading center the Kericho county Covid-19 surveillance team pounced on me and brought me at night to Kericho County hospital Covid-19 isolation center,” he said.
The father of nine from Kapkisimba village in Bomet county, claimed that he was yet to be provided with his Covid-19 test results and argued that starvation was aggravating the psychological torment
The patient who revealed that he is suffering from a diabetes also turned his anger at Bomet governor Hillary Barchok and local Member of County Assembly (MCA) whom he claimed that he had tried to contact but in vain.
Kericho County Health Chief Officer Dr David Ekuwam dismissed the patients claims that Covid-19 patients admitted at the hospital have been left to starve.
“We have a catering service whereby all the patients admitted at the facility are served; breakfast, ten o’clock tea, lunch, four o’clock tea and supper. Our menu is well thought out to serve the nutritional needs of the patients. The menu is changed each day,” he said.
Dr Ekuwam argued that the complaint was an isolated case.
“We have other Covid-19 patients admitted at the hospital and none of them has complained. I have nonetheless asked for a full report over the incident,” he said.
Dr Ekuwam described the patient as asymptotic.
