Kitui County Governor Charity Ngilu is responding well to treatment following her hospitalization after testing positive for Covid-19, a press statement from her office has confirmed.
Governor Ngilu, who was in Mombasa last week with members of the Executive and the County Assembly for the Kitui County Executive and Assembly consultative caucus, is not in any foreseeable danger according to the press communique seen by KNA on Wednesday morning.
“She is even able to make phone calls on her own and speak freely with visitors. Thanks to everyone who sent in their messages of a quick recovery and goodwill,” read part of the statement.
On Tuesday, Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua while in Murang’a broke the news of Governor Ngilu’s hospitalization sending shock waves in Kitui as the news sunk in.
Other reports indicate that Kitui County Assembly is mulling over suspending business after some MCAs were also hospitalized, days after the weeklong Mombasa retreat that kicked off on July 20.
The retreat was graced by the Governor, County Assembly Speaker George Ndotto, a cross-section of her trusted County Executive Committee members and several MCAs to deliberate on the implementation of the 2021/2022 financial year budget.
Three days later, Governor Ngilu was in Kitui meeting small scale business people in their hundred with little regard to social distancing or proper masking outside her office.
Sadly, the County has only four (4) ICU beds at Kitui County Referral Hospital and a paltry 64 general beds for the containment of Covid-19 treatment (20 at Kitui County Referral Hospital, 20 at Mwingi Level 4 Hospital and 24 at Kauwi Sub-County Hospital).
The County does not have an oxygen production plant but has 50 portable oxygen cylinders, 70 oxygen cylinders and concentrators, which is insufficient to cater for its 1.2 million population.
During a site visit by the County Development Implementation Coordination Committee to Kitui County Referral Hospital in November 2020, County Director of Medical Services Dr. Allan Owino said that the County has set up four ventilators in the Intensive Care Unit to manage patients with breathing difficulties.
“Similarly, the Kauwi Isolation Centre is well equipped with four oxygen ventilators to support critical Covid-19 cases. Our surveillance team is working round the clock to ensure the coronavirus is contained,’ said Dr Owino.
The Director of Medical Services lamented that when Covid-19 patients are referred to the facility they feel that it is not up to standards and thus end up missing essential services, even losing their patients.
Similarly, the County has not met the minimum threshold of 300 bed capacity in readiness for Covid-19 patients’ admission despite receiving over Sh. 400 million from the Ministry of Health since the first case was reported in the country in March 2020.
The 300 beds were to be spread into three health facilities among them Kitui County Referral Hospital, Mwingi Level 4 Hospital and Katulani Sub-County Hospital, each facility getting one hundred beds respectively.
During the CDICC meeting, the committee was shocked to learn that the county is ill-prepared to respond to Covid-19 emergencies despite receiving government funding.
The committee established that the national government money which was wired to Kitui County Referral Hospital account was withdrawn and transferred into the Kitui County Government’s account.
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