Since the first Covid-19 patient was confirmed in Kenya by Health CS Mutahi Kagwe on March 13, 2020, he has maintained in all his pressers that contact tracing begins immediately.
In fact, out of the 246 confirmed covid-19 positive cases, 100 are said to have been identified through contact tracing.
Citizen TV crew members, on Friday afternoon, April 17, chased an ambulance tracing suspected Covid-19 cases.
In the video, the ambulance manoeuvred through a Nairobi estate to the location where suspected Covid-19 patients live.
At the location, detectives from the DCI, public health officials and the National Intelligence Service were already at the scene.
Before taking the patients, the medics were armed with their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and issued masks and gloves to the patients before they were driven to the Kenyatta University Hospital.
The patients were advised to pack their personal belongings, bearing in mind that they would be in quarantine for at least 14 days.
Once a person is confirmed positive, he or she is interviewed by the authorities and they reveal people they might have come into contact with.
The National Intelligence Service is then said to track the contacts to a precise location before public health officers and detectives are deployed.
"Once a patient is identified, he or she is handed over to the paramedics and the public health officials tell us to which quarantine facility to take the patient," Patrick Kariki, a paramedic stated.
Interviewed by the reporter, the paramedics stated that they sometimes encounter challenges as the exercise takes place at night and the PPE equipment frightens some of the patients.
"You need to be very reassuring when you are picking the patient so they do not feel stigmatised," another paramedic Peter Shadi informed.
As of Friday, April 17, Kenya confirmed that the country had a total of 246 covid-19 patients, 53 recoveries and 11 fatalities.
Below is a video courtesy of Citizen TV;
Tracing The Virus:
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) April 17, 2020
Contact tracing team uses technology to locate patients
NIS, DCI teams up with health workers in tracing contacts
At least 100 positive cases identified through contact tracing#FridayNight@lillian_muli pic.twitter.com/QXQpeEix8A
