Kenya on Wednesday received two mobile coronavirus testing laboratories donated by Germany through the East African Community (EAC) to aid in the war against the coronavirus pandemic. Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe described the donations as timely, saying they will go a long way in mitigating the effects of the virus.
Our ability to succeed in dealing with this pandemic is in us working together,” EAC CS Adan Mohammed said. Speaking during a Covid-19 briefing on Wednesday, Mohammed thanked the German Embassy for their efforts saying the kits will be used at the borders in Namanga, Isibania among others. The labs will go a long way from benefiting drivers to health workers working in the fore front of the pandemic.
German ambassador Annett Günther said that the labs will help increase Kenya’s testing capacity. “Covid-19 is a crisis that tests us on how we treat ourselves. We can only beat the pandemic when we work together,” she said. “Two of these labs they will enable Kenya to detect communicable diseases.” Günther said Germany supports the training of health workers which will start next week. She sad that the new corporation of ILRI will now offer 800 tests per day. She added that she hopes that Kenya will overcome this crisis with as little lives lost as possible.
The health CS also reported that it was a coincidence that the same day the labs were received the cases of the coronavirus top the charts since the onslaught of the pandemic.
Covid-19 cases crossed the 1,000 mark as Kenya recorded its highest jump with 66 new cases, rising the numbers to 1,029, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said. Kagwe said 64 of the new cases are Kenyans, while two are foreigners. A total of 30 are from Mombasa, while 26 are from Nairobi. Three of the new cases are in Kajiado.