The Kiambu government has installed bulk oxygen plants in major health facilities as it steps up the fight against the fourth Covid-19 wave.
Governor James Nyoro on Monday said the county’s level five hospitals including Thika, Gatundu and Kiambu as well as Tigoni Level Four Hospital, which is the county’s Covid-19 centre, all have oxygen.
As of Monday, some 154 Covid-19 patients admitted to various hospitals across the county were on oxygen while four were in ICU.
The governor said the provision of oxygen in the major facilities was crucial as the country stares at the fourth Covid-19 wave sparked by the contagious Delta variant.
“Oxygen is the first medicine and a key treatment for Covid-19 patients and we now have enough of it. Piping has been done to supply oxygen to a patient’s bed and one cylinder will be able to serve like 100 patients,” Nyoro said.
Nyoro noted that the county is adequately prepared to tackle the pandemic, saying that Kiambu has dedicated Tigoni Level Four Hospital as its Covid-19 centre.
“The facility has been equipped with state–of–art equipment and has been dedicated as the exclusive county Covid-19 centre in order to boost the county’s fight against coronavirus. We are, however, appealing to our people to strictly observe the Covid-19 protocols by the Ministry of Health so as not to end up admitted at the centre,” he said.
The county chief also noted that the county’s ICU bed capacity rose to 32 in the three level five hospitals and Tigoni Level 4 Hospital following the opening of an eight-bed ICU unit at Kiambu Level Five Hospital. He said the ICUs will be catering for severe Covid-19 cases.
“We have been working on the vital amenities required in the Covid-19 fight. We found our county with just a five-bed ICU capacity and we have been able to increase to more than 30. And to enhance the capacity of the units, the county has procured more ventilators and monitors,” he said.
Nyoro said his administration is working round the clock to ensure the 108 health facilities in the county are well-staffed and stocked with medical supplies in order to ensure health service delivery to Kiambu residents.
“We have already increased our bed capacity to over 1,000 as part of our readiness to tackle the pandemic and other illnesses in the county. We are also rehabilitating and adequately equipping our level four facilities so that they can have the capacity to cater for our patients before being referred to our level five hospitals,” Nyoro said.
The county has eleven level four Hospitals including Tigoni, Wangige, Rukuma, Ruiru, Igegania, Lari, Thogoto, Limuru, Kikuyu, Githunguri and Bibirioni.