It costs about Ksh.1 million to take care of one COVID-19 patient

As the number of coronavirus cases in Kenya continue to rise, the government has now revealed that it costs an average of Ksh.1 million to take care of a single COVID-19 patient.

This high cost is mainly due to the protective gear required by doctors accessing the isolation wards where patients with the coronavirus are hospitalised.

According to Health Principal Secretary Susan Mochache, one personal protective equipment (PPE) kit costs about Ksh.20,000 and it is used for a single session per patient.

This means each time a doctor visits a COVID-19 patient he/she discards that protective gear and due to the special medical care required, a doctor could visit the patient several times in a day. One patient could therefore use PPE kits worth Ksh.100,000 to Ksh.140,000 in a day.

The bill is further escalated by the bed charges with the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) charging Ksh.4,000 per night in the isolation wards.

In addition, food, medicine and other services will increase the cost further depending on how long a patient remains hospitalised.

The cost of treatment, however, varies depending on the complications a patient is experiencing.

Dr. Samuel Njenga, an infectious disease expert at KNH, in an interview with the Nation, said it cost about Ksh.800,000 to keep Brenda Ivy Cherotich at Kenyatta Hospital for three weeks and Ksh.490,000 for Brian Orinda.

Brenda and Brian were Kenya’s first and third COVID-19 patients and were pronounced fully recovered on April 2.

There are currently 246 COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment at various private and public health facilities in the country.