Kenya is prepared to tackle coronavirus, health ministry says

The Kenyan health ministry has assured citizens that the country is well prepared for a possible outbreak of coronavirus, which has claimed over 3,000 lives across the globe and infected over 90,000 since its appearance in December.

Mutahi Kagwe, the health cabinet secretary, said 1,100 health workers have been trained to tackle coronavirus eventualities and have been deployed in Jomo Kenyatta International Airport among other areas.

"We are sensitizing and cascading the training all the way to the community levels," he said.

He said the government has procured sufficient personal protective equipment for the health workers to ensure they are properly protected.

Kagwe made the remarks on Friday as he launched a 120-bed coronavirus isolation and treatment facility in Mbagathi district hospital, in Kenya's capital Nairobi, located five kilometers from the city's central business district.

He said setting the facility in place was the first responsibility given to the 21-member emergency response committee following its establishment on February 28.

"We were told to have the facility ready for treatment of cases within seven days. I thank the team that has worked day and night to ensure the facility is set up," he said.

Kagwe said the government is working on establishing a similar 300-bed capacity facility at the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital, to step up preparedness, in case the Mbagathi facility was overwhelmed.

He said the government has set up an emergency unit that is going around the country in readiness for a quick response.

"We have activated an emergency operation center that is closely monitoring the evolution of the outbreak in China and the rest of the world in order to keep tabs with what we should do and learn what other countries are doing," he said.