The government of Kenya is contemplating alternative techniques to race the 140 Covid-19 patients who escaped from quarantine facilities.
Ministry of Health Dr. Rashid Aman on Tuesday said efforts to find the runaway patients have been fruitless even after the state made calls for them to present themselves.
The option to trace them using their identification numbers is now among the top choices the government is considering to explore because they pose a serious health risk to the public.
“We have been trying to trace them but we are yet to make progress. We are therefore going to use alternative means including use of IDs and alternative contacts,” Aman said.
Director of Public Health Dr Patrick Amoth last week said the 140 patients were among those who had turned up for the voluntary mass testing initiated by the government.
Dr. Amoth said the patients on the run might have given false contact information and when their samples tested positive they escaped.
“They can run but they cannot hide from the long arm of the government. They can choose to present themselves before the disease puts them down,” Amoth emphasised.
His statement came a day after another patient escaped from Mbagathi Hospital. The patient threatened the security guards manning the facility designated for quarantine with a screw driver and a knife.
Kenya has so far reported 2,093 Covid-19 cases after 72 more people tested positive of covid-19 in the last 24 hours. 17 patients have been discharged bringing the number of recoveries to 499.
Death toll from the virus now stands at 71 after two other patients died.
