COVID-19 crisis worsens in Kenya hospitals

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - At the Machakos Level 5 Hospital in Eastern Kenya, a patient lies on a bed at the entrance to a coronavirus ward on Thursday in the intensive care unit (ICU).

He is fighting for breath and hanging on to life.

Dr. Peter Ngumbi goes from bed to bed administering drugs to COVID-19 patients who require special attention in the ICU. He checks oxygen levels and moves on, repeating the process.

Dozens of patients have filled the ward. Some have recovered and are waiting to be discharged.

One fighting for breath wanted Anadolu Agency to send a message to those outside of the hospital.

“Take care of themselves. They should wear masks and make sure that they follow all the guidelines put in place,” said the patient, who identified himself as Reuben. “I feel like I am always out of breath, my chest has a tightening and it really hurts when I try to inhale or exhale. It is pure painful.”

The patient who was at the entrance to the ward, died a few hours later.

A medic was called to confirm the time of death while another sprayed the body with a disinfectant -- everything has to be disinfected and the body moved to the morgue.

While others get ready to be discharged, others are hooked up to respirators in a bid to save their lives from the virus as records in Kenya show a surge in infections, especially the delta variant.

Ngumbi, who works in the ICU isolation ward, told Anadolu Agency that “we are looking after patients who require ICU care. The patients that are in my background are those that we currently have in the isolation unit.”

He said the hospital, like most in Kenya, is battling a shortage of oxygen and protective protection equipment.

- Surge in delta variant cases

“For those patients who require a higher level of care and those who might have a higher oxygen demand and those require either high flow oxygen or ventilator support -- we also have patients who have underlying conditions that need to be also managed,” said Ngumbi.

“With the new delta variant, it is expected that we would have more numbers of patients because it is a virus that we had not experienced which has a new mutation that makes it a bit more contagious. Because of that reason we are seeing a surge at this time, so we have many more patients coming in, especially for those who are coming in for intensive care,” he said.

Ngumbi said being on the frontline fighting the disease has challenges, especially when it comes to protecting himself. Despite all that, he said it has been a privilege to take care of patients and see them recover.

“One of the challenges that we have from time to time is the shortage of the personal protective equipment that we use which are important amid the challenges we have been seeing patients. but the challenges do affect our work,” he said.

Ngumbi said he gets joy from seeing patients recover.

“That really encourages us and gives us positive reinforcement even toward our work and it is very encouraging. We have lost a number of patients as well, especially those who come in with severe symptoms and of course in those cases it has been discouraging. Together, we find strength amongst ourselves. I would advise we get vaccinated as soon as you can,” said Ngumbi

Seventeen people tested positive for the disease in Kenya on Thursday from a sample size of 6,350 tested in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate is 12.9%. Confirmed cases stand at 232,869 and cumulative tests are 2,342,816.

Thirty-five patients died from the disease, pushing cumulative fatalities to 4,635.

Kenya has received 3,610,600 vaccines and has vaccinated 2,649,820 people.