16 Kenyan Family Members Sent into Quarantine After Body of Dead Kin Tests Positive for Covid-19

16 family members from Bomet County have been placed under quarantine after their kin who died on Tuesday last week tested positive for Covid-19.

55-year-old Ernest Kosgei was admitted to Longisa County Referral Hospital in Bomet on May 4th after returning from Nairobi, where he had gone to seek treatment for diabetes.

Kosgei passed away at the medical facility the following day and samples taken from his remains and sent to Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) in Kisumu for testing showed he was infected with Covid-19.

16 family members who came into contact with the deceased have been sent into mandatory quarantine at Kaplong Girls High School, Daily Nation reported on Wednesday, May 13th.

Health officials are yet to trace one person who reportedly escorted the deceased to the hospital on the day he was admitted.

The Health Ministry this week announced Kenyan hospitals will soon be required to test patients for Covid-19 before they are admitted to the wards.

Health Director-General Dr. Patrick Amoth said the move is aimed at protecting frontline health workers and other patients admitted in wards from contracting the virus.

“It is likely that when an asymptomatic case is admitted to the hospital, they may spread the virus to the healthcare workers or other patients in the ward, we need to be able to protect those people,” Dr. Amoth said.

The ministry said a total of 34 Kenyan healthcare workers have so far been infected with the bug in the line of duty but none of them have died.