Nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura clashed with Government Spokesman Cyrus Oguna over the number of ICU beds in the country.
During a facetime interview with Citizen TV, Mwaura disputed the government’s figure of about 600 beds saying they are only a little over 100 beds.
“If we are to end up in a crisis like the one that has been in America, we would actually not be able to handle and why am I saying so?”
“Currently, we are talking about increasing the bed capacity to 1000 in terms of the ICU but the current figures as we speak is 115 and that is a combination of both the public and the private sector,” said Mwaura.
Adding: “We have about 10 in Aga Khan, another 20 at Nairobi Hospital, about 40 at KNH (Kenyatta National Hospital) and the others are spread far and in between so to increase that 10 fold is a herculean task.”
But Oguna, who was also part of the video conference call, corrected the Senator, saying: “For corrections in terms of even ICU alone is more than what Mheshimiwa is saying, our current ICU capacity is well over 500 heading to 600 or thereabout.
“Our isolation capacity as of now, Mbagathi alone stands at about 120, Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral hospital is about 600, I have not gone to the county even the private hospitals I have not counted.
“If you look at those figures alone we are standing close to 800 beds that are ready and can take patients at any time. There are counties that have also been able to prepare isolation facilities perhaps not at the same level as the national government but they are nonetheless ready.
“So what the senator is saying may require to be looked at afresh,” said Oguna.
Later on in the interview, Mwaura reiterated that:
“The good things about this issue is that facts don’t lie, we have had Cyrus Oguna talking about a capacity of 500 beds. Actually ICU is 115 and it’s good to actually keep the facts clear so that then you know how to respond because facts don’t lie.”
