The ministry of health has explained why targeted mass testing for Covid-19 is taking place in areas like Eastleigh and Kawangware and not in the leafy suburbs.
Health Director General Dr Patrick Amoth said decisions on where testing is done is based on how easy or difficult it is to execute a clear contact tracing tree from a particular case.
“Remember when we do the testing it is based on contact tracing and we only go towards targeted mass testing if we are not able to map the contacts with our cases,” Dr Amoth said.
Dr Amoth said having a targeted mass testing for an area like Kilimani will not make economic sense since tracing to get the last contact of persons confirmed to be Covid-19 positive from these areas has proven successful.
“If you can be able to develop that contact tracing tree clearly, then you will be able to get the last contact and therefore it will not make economic sense to do targeted mass testing in that particular place,” he added.
Targeted mass testing was launched by the ministry in April aimed at tracking down individuals who might have contracted the virus but are not showing any symptoms.
This is due to the fact that the novel disease is currently being transmitted fast nand widely within communities in the country.
Currently Kenya reported 621 confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday.
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