Health experts said Wednesday there was no capacity locally to carry out the test for coronavirus.
This is a new virus and the specific test kits for it have not been set-up, officials said.
It may take longer for Kenya to have preliminary results of a patient admitted to Kenyatta National Hospital with flu-like symptoms after the health experts sought more time for tests.
Health experts said Wednesday there was no capacity locally to carry out the test for coronavirus that is spreading around the world from China. This is a new virus and the specific test kits for it have not been set-up, officials said.
Dr Ahmed Kalebi the, chief executive and chief consultant pathologist at Lancet Group of Laboratories, East Africa said that while Kenya may have the capacity to handle the situation, it will still look for outside help to establish whether the patient has the virus or not.
“Not even Lancet South Africa or any of the labs there have set up to do the test because it is a new virus but I think the National Institute of Virology in South Africa has started doing the test this week.
“While the Kenya Medical Research Institute may have the capacity to investigate, this is a totally new virus and will take longer to set up the testing services and so we might have to wait for up to 96 hours for the results,” he said.
The Ministry of Health on Tuesday reported that samples had been taken to South Africa for tests but the Business Daily has since established that the country is not accepting samples outside its borders.
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