When Kenya put faces to Covid-19 recoveries

Joy. Brenda Cherotich and Brian Orinda who were cured of coronavirus in Kenya. COURTESY PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • Kenya has 162 ICU beds, 161 ventilators, trained more than 1,100 health workers to manage Covid-19 and these are giving hope to many patients in the isolation centres. Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto last week announced plans for converting about 900 boarding schools across the country should the situation turn into a crisis.

Putting a face to a given figure had been the most difficult thing for health professionals and governments since the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

The fear is to avoid the stigma and stress that comes with knowing that a loved one is sick of the virus and especially those in isolation.

Brenda Cherotich, 26, from Kericho County, had been in the United States for more than two months became Patient 001 soon after her return to Kenya through London on March 5.

“I may have contracted the virus from London or on my way back to Nairobi,” Ms Cherotich told Kenya’s president through a virtual chat.

Upon being tested and confirmed with Covid-19, she was isolated for 23 days at Mbagathi Hospital Isolation and treatment Centre in Kenya. The 120-bed isolation centre will be home to those with Covid-19 with the hope of faster recovery.

Kenya has 162 ICU beds, 161 ventilators, trained more than 1,100 health workers to manage Covid-19 and these are giving hope to many patients in the isolation centres. Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto last week announced plans for converting about 900 boarding schools across the country should the situation turn into a crisis.

Cases
This came before two patients were given certificates to declare them Covid-19 free bringing the total recovery to three.

The Health cabinet secretary, Dr Mutahi Kagwe, on Wednesday had another message of hope for Kenyans: “The current patient who is admitted in ICU at Aga Khan Hospital is actually on chloroquine and azithromycin and he is making good progress.”

President Kenyatta thanked God on Wednesday for giving Kenyans hope through the first recovery and was delighted to speak to the eloquent former Miss Tourism of Kericho County.

When Kerotich returned to her home on March 5, Kenya changed. She had 23 contacts while in the plane and 22 others locally that government through the Ministry of Health was able to trace and isolate.

“You are no longer patient number 001. Now we can call you Brenda,” Mr Kenyatta joked.
Patient three was Brian Orinda, one of the local contacts to Ms Cherotich.

“Immediately Brenda’s results came back, the government reacted very fast. They came looking for me wherever I was. They took me to a government facility and I was tested. Immediately the results came back as positive. Government embarked on treating me and as a result, I am feeling much better now,” Mr Arinda told President Kenyatta in a video conference conversation from Nairobi.

Kenya recorded four recoveries and four deaths by last Sunday, April 5.
Three people have so far recovered from Covid-19 in Kenya with more than 2,000 still in quarantine and 158 confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, Rwanda as of yesterday had 105 confirmed cases, Congo 180 cases, 18 deaths, three recovered, Uganda now has 52 cases with zero deaths, while Tanzania had 20 cases with one death and three recovered and Burundi has three cases.

Whereas Uganda started its 14 day-lockdown and curfew on Monday March 30, Rwanda has extended its lockdown until April 19. Rwanda first announced its lockdown on March 21 but President Paul Kagame revised this with only shops and markets selling food, medicine and other essentials allowed to open.

For a country like Kenya, celebrating recovery in the mid of rising number of confirmed cases and a looming lockdown is an intricate balance that the country is facing with more people fleeing the city of Nairobi, crowding in buses and matatus.

As the first patient to be confirmed with the deadly coronavirus, she only heard it in the media that a patient in the same health facility had tested positive. The reality for her was heart drenching.

While being interviewed by Mr Jeff Kionange on Citizen Television on Wednesday, Ms Cherotich was still put alone in one of the studios as Mr Kionange apologised for the social distancing but maintained that it was important as the World Health Organisation is emphasising the need for people not to be in close contacts, one of the ways to avoid the spread of Covid-19.

“I am feeling perfectly okay now. I do not have any pain. I am just fine. No fever. No headache,” Ms Cherotich told viewers.
In the televised interview, Ms Cherotich took viewers through the daunting experience of being the first Covid-19 patient for a country to confirm.

“I was in the US. I took a flight from Cleveland in Ohio to Chicago, Illinoi. From there I took a flight to London then I came to Nairobi. London was just a one hour layover. When I landed, (at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport), everybody was screened. Our temperatures were perfectly okay, within the normal range. That is when we took our luggage and I proceeded to Rongai,” said Ms Cherotich.

Face to face with virus
But after three days, she says she felt a tickle-like irritation in her throat that turned into a mild cough within five hours.

“I called the other passengers who were seated next to me in the plane and I asked them if they were having a cough or a fever. I knew there was that possibility. One of the ladies confirmed to me and she said she had been having fever for a number of days and cough as well. She told me there was something weird with the cough. That is when I decided to stay in isolation in my room and not go anywhere so I can watch my body. The next day I called the toll free number and went to the hospital myself,” says Cherotich.

She added that watching YouTube videos and news about Covid-19 and the Kenya situation helped her know who to contact and where to get help.

Her journey to Mbagathi Hospital was the longest with thoughts of uncertainty and what could become of her and if she could get out alive, and many others. Knowing that the disease was highly contagious gave her the strength to walk to the hospital not to infect other vulnerable people around her.

“I did not tell anyone. I just called the people I was with so that in case it turned positive, they would come forward saying they had been in contact with me because the initial agreement was that I would inform Ministry of Health of every person that I had been in contact with,” she said

When a new disease like Covid-19 presents itself in such an unusual manner to health workers, the magnitude is not immediately felt. At Mbagathi Hospital, Cherotich had to insist that she could be having the deadly disease.

Chrotich was anxious the whole day waiting for her results. Then the Health Cabinet Secretary was on the media announcing Kenya’s first confirmed Covid-19 case, a 27 year old lady. Her age had been changed by one.

“That is when I put the dots together and realised it was me. The lady who was seated with me in the plane called and told me, I think they are talking about you because I first called them and said I wanted to go to the hospital. I told her I was just in isolation. I told her it is not me. Trust me, I do not have that virus. I do not have any difficulty in breathing. That is when I started seeing the calls coming in and I broke down. I started crying. I was calling nurses all over the hospital asking, is it me?” Cherotich emotionally told Citizen TV.

When reality sets in, it can be too much to take in, especially for Covid-19 cases where the patient is all alone in isolation. But Cherotich consoled herself and forgave the nurse.

“I was just breathing fine. I only had a few chest pains for the first five days. The 23 days (at the hospital isolation unit) are long. That is the sacrifice everyone has to take. You have to be painfully uncomfortable for this period so that you can achieve something. Foe me it was to be isolated for the virus to be contained and surprised so that I would not give it to other people.

For the 23 days I was just putting my music on, talking to my family members. My family was very supportive because I was crying sometimes,” explained Cherotich, the Telecommunication and Electrical Engineering graduate who hopes to get back to a normal life after Covid-19 is no more. For now, she is in self-quarantine at home.

Thanks
Cherotich thanked doctors at KNH keeping in contact with Chinese doctors to help in her treatment and recovery.
Covid-19 was first confirmed in December 2019 in Wuhan, where its population of 11 million people faced a two-months lockdown. More than 3,000 people died of Covid-19 in China alone and 50,000 globally according to the World Health Organisation.

Wuhan has, however, gone back to near normal after government ordered people to start returning to work two weeks ago but maintained wearing of masks and sanitising.
Africa and East Africa are not yet in a crisis but many are praying the disease is contained to save the already struggling health care systems.

Experts say..

Dr Louise Ombajo, the Head of Infectious Disease Unit at Kenyatta National Hospital, urged Kenyans to stay home and continue complying with the safety measures to avoid a full blown crisis.
She says whereas the country does not have the capacity to manage the crisis, citizens should follow medical guidelines.

While speaking from Nairobi on Wednesday, Dr Ombajo said the world is still grappling with the question of reoccurrences in patients who have recovered and advised such patients to take extra precaution to stay safe.
“By the time we declare someone negative, usually we will have had two results that are negative. We first test a swab sample and it tests negative. After 24 hours we take another sample and if that also is negative then we declare the person is negative”.

Dr Ombajo adds: “Reoccurrence is the question that we are all asking ourselves... There are few rare cases but we know that those reports exist. Even if someone has been discharged, you tell them you may still be at risk. Many times we expect that if you recovered from a virus infection, you may have some immunity which means you may not get the infection again but since this is a new disease and it is still under research.” Dr Ombajo warns that people should not create fear and panic. She says patients should not be stigmatised because everyone is at risk.

Fr Fred Wanzala in Rome, Italy yesterday asked the world to continue praying and ask what went wrong but be optimistic in their living.
World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing at the organisations’ Geneva headquarters last Wednesday that they are deeply concerned about the rapid escalation and global spread of the coronavirus that could reach 1 million infections in a few days.