Update: Tuesday, June 30: Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council (KMPDC) has cleared Athi River Shalom Hospital to resume operations.
KMPDC CEO Daniel Yumbya stated that the decision was arrived at after a report issued on Monday to the council and the Machakos County Government.
Dr Yumbya directed the hospital’s management to fumigate and disinfect the entire facility prior to the resumption of operations and to quarantine health workers who tested positive for COVID-19. Patients who tested positive were transferred to Kangundo Level 4 Hospital.
Security officers deployed to man the facility were ordered to vacate as over 100 admitted patients were directed to self-quarantine for 14 days.
"The hospital management should ensure the availability of PPE’s for health workers," Yumbya added.
Update: Saturday, June 27: Shalom Hospital, Athi River has released a statement on the Covid-19 situation at the hospital. It stated that seven suspects have been seen at the facility. After testing, six turned positive. Out of 19 staff who were tested, one turned positive.
"All the suspected cases were treated within the isolation ward (pending release of results) and with no contact with the rest of the patients. Some patients developed symptoms while in the general ward and were isolated immediately. As per protocol, suspected cases are alerted to the Ministry of Health," the statement reads.
"As a Level IV hospital, we do not have Intensive Care Facilities (ICU). We have been referring the critical cases to advanced public and private hospitals. Unfortunately, there has been a challenge with such referrals owing to constrained ICU facilities countrywide. This situation has regrettably resulted in 3 fatalities as the referral cases are being processed," it added.
The hospital further affirmed that it adheres to Covid-19 regulations and asked patients to make full disclosure while seeking treatment at hospitals to minimize risk to other patients and health staff.
Shalom Hospital in Athi River has been sealed off after an undisclosed number of Covid-19 patients passed away, Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua has announced.
Governor Mutua explained on Saturday, June 27, that a decision to seal off the hospital was reached after extensive consultation with the Ministry of Health and Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council.
"Last night (Friday, June 26) my Government sealed off Shalom Hospital in Athi River following deaths of some patients due to Covid-19.
"This was arrived at after consultations with the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council and the Director-General of Health (Dr Patrick Amoth," Mutua tweeted.
The Governor added that the health practitioners had initiated measures to curb the spread of the virus and also ascertain the number of infected patients.
"The process of screening and testing for Covid -19 may take several days and has already started. Further decisions will be undertaken according to the evaluation by the relevant agencies involved in the provision of health care and combating of Covid-19.
"I urge all Wananchi to be patient as we ensure all health facilities are safe so as to avoid hospital-based infections that were witnessed in places like New York, US and several Italian cities," he added.
Machakos announced its first Coronavirus case in May 2020 while Kenya's tally was still at 621. Governor Mutua set out to stipulate additional measures to the government's social distancing, hand washing and sanitizing and wearing face masks to curb the spread of the diseases.
Mutua set up more than four isolation centres with a total number of 150-bed capacity in June 2020 while announcing a plan to accommodate coronavirus patients from other counties.
Over 33 counties in Kenya have recorded Coronavirus cases. As of Friday, June 26, the country had recorded 5,533 cases with 137 fatalities and 1,905 recoveries.
