Ministry of Health Director General Patrick Amoth has revealed the daily cost of COVID-19 care in Kenya.
Amoth said the cost of management of COVID-19 patients who are asymptomatic is Ksh. 21,300 per day.
He also said for those with slight symptoms such as a mild cough or slight difficulty in breathing cost becomes Ksh. 21, 400 per day.
However, Amoth said patients with a severe form of COVID-19 who require supplementary oxygen are taken care of at a cost of Ksh. 51,000 per day.
“If you require ICU critical care support including intubation and ventilatory support the figure goes to Ksh. 71,000 per day,” he added.
Amoth noted that the economics surrounding the management of COVID-19 patients is the reason behind putting measures in place to ensure that Kenyans practice home-based care.
Speaking during a Press briefing alongside Health CS Mutahi Kagwe, Dr. Amoth also revealed that 292 Kenyan health workers have contracted coronavirus.
According to him, 160 of them are females and 132 are male.
“Most of the people who take care of COVID positive cases in the isolation centres are nurses and majority of our nurses are female,” Dr. Amoth said.
The DG noted that aside from the doctor who succumbed to the disease on Friday morning, the other health workers are doing well.
Dr. Doreen Lugaliki died at the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi from where she had been admitted to on Monday night.
She is among eight people who have died from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
