Kenyans are not going to hospitals for fear of contracting Covid-19, Health CS Dr Mercy Mwangangi has said.
Dr Mwangi on Monday encouraged Kenyans who require medical services to go to hospital as there are measures put in place to protect both the doctors and patients from getting infected.
Kenya has recorded 72 new Covid-19 cases and the total now stands at 1, 286.
“Kenyans are seeking healthcare services less than they were before. We have a team that’s trying to review why Kenyans are not seeking healthcare services as much as they used to. The team is also putting in place measures to encourage Kenyans to come to hospital.”
“When you are unwell and you need care from a doctor, do not be afraid to come to hospital. You will not get Covid-19 in the hospital because we’ve put measures in place to protect the healthcare workers and the patients as well,” Dr Mwangangi said.
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Dr Mwangangi added that the number of pregnant women seeking prenatal services in hospital has gone down as well. She said the Ministry of Health has been working with statisticians to determine the number of births per day and the number of expectant women seeking medical services has significantly gone down.
“Covid-19 has brought detrimental effects. There are fewer mothers coming into the health facilities. As a country, we have statisticians who work with us and are able to know the expected number of deliveries every day in this country,” she said.
“We have projections of how many mothers we will be expecting to see. When we compare these numbers in this quarter with how they were in the last quarter, we are seeing a drop in the health-seeking behaviour,” Mwangangi added.
