Covid-19: Man who died in Bomet travelled in a police car
Longisa County Referral Hospital in Bomet County where the man was admitted. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
A total of 36 people, including 16 family members of the 55-year-old man and medics who attended to him have been placed under quarantine in the county.
- 20 of those quarantined are doctors and nurses who handled the patient, and others who handled a second case that tested positive in Nairobi after being transferred from Tenwek Hospital.
A Nairobi-based businessman who succumbed to Covid-19 at Longisa County Referral Hospital travelled to Bomet County in a police vehicle, it has emerged.
A total of 36 people, including 16 family members of the 55-year-old man and medics who attended to him have been placed under quarantine in the county.
It has emerged that 20 of those quarantined are doctors and nurses who handled the patient, and others who handled a second case that tested positive in Nairobi after being transferred from Tenwek Hospital.
In the second case, a child from Baringo County who had been taken for eye treatment at Tenwek and later transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi tested positive for Covid-19.
As a result, 10 doctors from Tenwek Hospital who came in contact with the child before the referral have also been placed in quarantine as a precautionary measure.
The 55-year-old Ernest Kosgei had a history of diabetes. He was a resident of Kagawet village. He travelled to Bomet on May 5 and was admitted to the hospital the same day. He passed away a day later.
“A police vehicle was secured by a relative who is policeman, to transport the man from Nairobi to Bomet. He had been undergoing treatment in Nairobi on an off, for sometimes before the transfer to Longisa,” said a family member who did not want to be named.
A relative to the deceased man who accompanied the patient to the hospital had not been traced by public health officers by yesterday afternoon.
Questions have also been raised as to why the man’s test results took one week to be released, potentially exposing more people to the virus. But County Executive for Medical Services and Public Health Joseph Sitonik said the tests were repeated to ascertain the results. He added that it takes longer to conduct tests on a body that has been preserved. Bomet Governor Hillary Barchok warned residents against withholding crucial information on their recent travels.
The county government, he said, will push for disciplinary action against the concerned police officer.
