Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has revealed that masks obtained from China to help in the fight against coronavirus recently failed quality checks.
Speaking in Kisumu County during the daily Covid-19 briefing, the CS stated that the masks that failed the tests were analyzed by the Kenya Bureau Of Standards (KEBS).
Kagwe noted locally made Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) were of high quality compared to some of the imported protective gear. He encouraged Kenyans to embrace locally manufactured PPES.
Sub-standard PPES increase risk of exposure especially for frontline health workers
Kenya imported PPES from China to aid in the fight against the virus.
Read: NHIF To Cover COVID-19 Expenses In Government Hospitals
Kenya was also among African countries that received a donation of PPEs from Chinese business magnate Jack Ma.:
Kagwe did not specify which of the PPES received from the Asian country failed the quality tests.
At the same time, the CS warned doctors that are issuing negative certificates for deaths as a result of the virus, to enable the families hold normal burials.
“We are aware that there are doctors, in the private sector who are undermining the process of protecting families by exploiting their emotions and colluding with some of them to ensure burials are done normally,” said Kagwe.
Read Also: New Research Links Tuberculosis’ BCG Vaccine To Lower COVID-19 Infections
Kagwe noted that in the past 24 hours Kenya recorded 599 new cases of Covid-19 after testing 4420 samples. The number of infections confirmed in the country now stands at 26,436.
1,062 patients, majority of them in home-based care, have recovered in the last 24 hours, while the death toll has risen to 420 after two more victims succumbed to the virus.
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