The Ministry of Health on Wednesday, March 18, confirmed that a patient who had left the KNH Isolation Unit at Mbagathi Hospital under suspicious circumstances had been tracked down and tested positive for the Coronavirus Disease (Covid 19).
In a press conference, Patrick Omwanda Amoth, the acting Director-General of Health stated that the patient had been tracked down by the police and returned to the facility.
"There was a patient who was in Mbagathi and apparently left the facility. Through the security apparatus in the country, we tracked her, brought her back and tested her. The results were positive," he stated.
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According to Omwanda, the woman had been in contact with about 85 people who were being tracked down.
"As of now, we are following 85 contacts actively and we will give you further updates on the matter," he added.
The statement confirmed reports from Monday, March 15, that a patient isolated at the Mbagathi isolation unit was discharged on Sunday, March 15, under unclear circumstances.
The woman, who was among several others quarantined at the facility awaiting Covid-19 test results told the Daily Nation on Sunday, March 15, that she was at home but failed to explain the circumstances surrounding her leaving the facility.
Her apparent escape followed a protest by the suspected patients in the ward who had packed their bags and threatened to storm out of the facility.
The patients were unhappy with the delay in results with most having been at the facility since Friday, March 13, when the first case was announced in the country.
The woman in question had also complained about the state of the hospital highlighting that the facility lacked good sanitation practices.
She accused the facility of keeping them in the dark about when they would receive their test results.
“They are not communicating to us or telling us what is expected…they are dealing with us like we are already dying," she lamented.
A doctor at the facility confirmed that the quarantined patients were displaying signs of restlessness.
He additionally revealed that while the protests were ongoing on that day, the patients were mingling freely with staff and other workers at the hospital. At one point, police officers were called in to deescalate the situation.
In a press conference, the CS for Health, Mutahi Kagwe stated that all the 23 patients who had been isolated at the facility had all been discharged after their results came back negative and were asked to self-quarantine at home.
He also announced the confirmation of three more positive cases bringing the tally to 7.
