Effective yesterday, Monday 28th, the Nairobi Hospital was tapped to start carrying out at least 900 tests per day for the novel coronavirus at a cost of Ksh.10,000 each.
The Nairobi hospital administration in a statement to newsrooms said the increase in testing capacity was enabled by the deployment of both the Rotor-Gene Q and QIASymphony testing platforms creating an integrated and automated PCR testing setup.
The hospital’s CEO, Dr Allan Pamba said the move follows a rigorous training and collaboration by the Centre of Disease Control (CDC) and approval by the Ministry of Health, following validation by the National Influenza Centre (NIC) Laboratory.
According to the facility, the said amount for the test entails costs of the testing kits, sampling materials and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) that the hospital staff needs to wear to take and test the samples.
Test results will then take between 6-24 hours to return and those who test positive will be required to quarantine at a hospital of their choice as the Ministry of Health follows up on contact tracing.
“The hospital currently has a total capacity of 37 COVID-19 isolation beds, 12 of which are ICU beds with plans to expand as the pandemic evolves. The Hospital staff managing the COVID-19 Isolation Unit includes a multidisciplinary team which includes the hospital’s Infection Prevention & Control team, nursing staff, Specialist doctors, counsellors and cleaning crew,” read the statement.
The Nairobi Hospital CEO Dr Allan Pamba urged Kenyans to volunteer for the checkups to help the government curb the community infections.
“We welcome the public to come for testing in a bid to reduce community infections. We also urge corporates to partner with us to support the Government’s ambition to achieve mass testing.”
To be tested, clients will need to be triaged at the Accident and Emergency Centre and seen by a doctor who will prescribe testing after taking their history. Clients will be allowed to go home after sampling and results will be emailed to them.
For positive results, the patient will be informed of their status by their doctor and followed up by the Ministry of Health for isolation at a facility of their choice.
The hospital has reopened three of its six satellite clinics that had been closed in the fight against coronavirus pandemic. The three include Galleria Mall, Warwick Centre and Capital Centre.
The hospital management had on April 2 closed six centres and recalled all staff to the main hospital to support inpatient management amid the pandemic.
“Covid-19 infection control protocols have now been embedded at the hospital…. To help to reduce transmission risks within the hospital and in public areas,” he said.
