What Kenya Needs to Do Better as It Braces for 4th Covid-19 Wave

A modelling forecast from the Kenya Medical Research Institute in June 2021 warned of an imminent fourth wave with attendant risks of health service demand exceeding capacity. The Delta variant is much more transmissible than predecessors such as the Alpha variant, but it does not appear to cause more severe disease.

The big concern is how Kenya will fare this time around.

The government reacted quickly to the previous three waves. But the public has felt some pandemic fatigue. And the economy and social life in general have been negatively affected.

A major effort is needed to help hospitals test and report results quickly for optimal patient care, particularly in the public sector. The government took a decision early in the pandemic to limit antibody testing to research studies. This constrains both clinical care and surveillance of the prevalence of Covid-19 in the population which would otherwise give more insight into the nature of the pandemic in Kenya and population exposure, writes Abdu Mohiddin, Marleen Temmerman and Rodney Adam for The Conversation.

As at August 2, 2021 Kenya has recorded 203,680 Covid-19 cases with 189,131 recoveries and 3,946 fatalities.