Private hospitals in Mandera county have been banned from handling or treating Covid-19 patients and instead directed to refer them to the county referral hospital.
County secretary Abdinur Hussein Maalim on Monday said patients who display symptoms of Covid-19 should be immediately referred to the Mandera County Teaching and Referral Hospital where there are personnel trained to handle such patients.
He said the move is aimed at protecting health workers and the community from contracting the virus.
Hospitals found to have contravened the directive will be closed down and their licences withdrawn.
Speaking during a meeting on Covid-19 protocols at the County Conference Hall in Mandera town, Maalim said the new measures were necessary to arrest an upsurge in infections.
He was with Public Service executive Ahmed Sheikh.
“By referring the suspected Covid-19 cases to Mandera County Teaching and Referral Hospital where there are people who are trained to handle such cases, you will be helping yourselves, the facilities’ workers and the community at large. As a government, we are really mindful of the community,” Maalim said.
“If you keep the Covid-19 patients and that they die in your facility, we will close it down.”
Maalim said they were happy the county would start testing samples for Covid-19 after receiving equipment from the Ministry of Health in conjunction with the Kenya Medical Research Institute.
The equipment, he said, was being offloaded and that two Kemri staff had been dispatched to the county to install the machines.
“The Kemri staff will train our personnel on how to do the tests so that testing can be done here,” Maalim said.
The testing machines will be a big boost to the county in the fight against Covid-19. Currently, samples from Mandera have to be flown to Nairobi, some 1,000km away for testing.
Samples can be tested in neighbouring Wajir county but those from Mandera cannot be taken there because of the risk of attacks by al Shabaab.
Governor Ali Roba said the testing machines will save the county government money used to transport the samples to Nairobi and increase the number of people tested per day.
Sheikh urged private hospitals to treat all clients who seek medical services as suspected Covid-19 patients by taking protective measures to prevent risking their lives and those of their patients and relatives.
“Even if a person goes to the hospital because of malaria, he or she should be handled with care,” Sheikh said.
He also cautioned locals against haphazardly handling the dead adding that “our people should realise Covid-19 is with us.”
The CEC said some boda boda riders were sneaking in people from neighbouring Ethiopia and Somalia through panya routes. He said such trends had increased the chances for the spread of Covid-19.
Mandera has recorded 20 cases of the disease, including one death. The county has set aside 306 isolation beds for an expected upsurge in cases.