A picture shared by ODM party leader Raila Odinga on Friday, March 26, showing him sitting at home - next to what looks like an Oxygen Concentrator has left many Kenyans talking.
In the photos, Raila is seated on a chair reading a book with the machine on the left side.
Raila tested positive for Covid 19 which was confirmed by his doctor David Oluoch Olunya on March 11, after he was admitted to the Nairobi Hospital following complaints of body ache and fatigue.
Reports indicated that Raila was taken back to the Nairobi Hospital, a few days after he was discharged and directed to isolate at home.
Captioning the pictures, Raila noted that he had been visited by a New York attorney who gifted him the book.
"Books and doors are the same things. You open them and you go through into another world.
This morning I received a gift of a book from New York attorney Ochoro E.Otunnu.
"Mr. Otunnu relayed best wishes from DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and friends in the diaspora," read the caption.
Hawk-eyed Kenyans picked the oxygen concentrator which, with many wondering about Raila's health - even though he looked okay from the photos.
The device concentrates oxygen from a gas supply by selectively removing nitrogen to supply an oxygen-enriched product gas stream. It takes air from the surroundings, extracts oxygen, and filters it into pure oxygen allowing the user to breathe.
However, oxygen can be drying to the nose hence some patients use humidifier bottles attached to the home unit to help moisten the oxygen inhaled. It is prescribed to patients who need constant oxygen while at home or while they sleep.
According to a medical practitioner who spoke to Kenyans.co.ke, when the oxygen circulation in a patient is less than 90 percent in the blood, they're put on oxygen to aid breathing.
Most of the Covid-19 patients have been noted to have less than 70 percent oxygen circulation prompting them to be put on oxygen 15 liters per minute. The level of oxygen varies with the circulation in the blood.
According to the World Health Organization, oxygen therapy is recommended for all severe and critical COVID‐19 patients. The ability to boost capacity to deliver oxygen therapy is the cornerstone of the overall approach to managing the COVID‐19 outbreak and it has implications for the functioning of the entire system
As of March 26, 2,008 more Covid-19 positive cases had been reported from a sample size of 11,360 translating to a positivity rate of 17.7%.
1,192 patients admitted to various health facilities countrywide, while 3,777 are on home-based isolation and care. 124 patients are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 37 of whom are on ventilatory support, and 78 on supplemental oxygen. 9 patients are on observation.
Another 81 patients are separately on supplementary oxygen with 68 of them in the general wards and 13 in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).