Kenya to test patients for coronavirus before admission

Kenya's health authorities have announced that all patients being admitted to hospitals will have to be tested for coronavirus.

This is to ensure that health workers are protected from infections when handling patients in hospitals, the director-general in charge of health, Patrick Amoth, said on Monday.

“We are reviewing our guidelines as to make it possible for everyone who is admitted in the facility for one reason or another to have a Covid-19 test as a pre-requisite. This will not only protect front-line health workers, but also fellow patients who are admitted whose immune systems are compromised, therefore putting them at a very high risk of contracting the disease,” Dr Amoth said.

The new measure comes as Kenya’s coronavirus cases rose to 700, including 33 deaths and 251 recoveries.

The government has restricted movement in and out of the capital, Nairobi, and the second biggest city of Mombasa, as well as two other counties in the coastal region as part of the measures to contain the spread of the virus.

It has also imposed a total lockdown in two areas identified as virus hot spots - one in Nairobi and the other in Mombasa - for 15 days.