Dear CS Matiangi, this family in Kisii is crying for justice, what Oasis hospital did is inhuman !

Mrs Finike Karegi now deceased was taken ill and admitted at Oasis Hospital, Kisii on 23rd of July 2020. According to the family, Finike a 75yr old had lung complications which have been there for a number of years and she regularly visited Oasis Hospital, Kisii for medication.

She was admitted at the facility for 6 days and unfortunately passed on, in the morning of 29th of July 2020. The family was immediately contacted and informed that their kin has succumbed and she died of Covid 19. They immediately arrived at the hospital and demanded to know when it was known to the hospital that their patient was Covid 19 positive and she had been there for 6 days, not in isolation and even with an helper from the family. Finike had not been tested for Covid at the facility according to the family. The Hospital never clarified on this issue and never provided the family with the Covid 19 results to prove that the patient died of Covid 19.

The Hospital management instead demanded that they were going to hold the body until a Hospital bill of Ksh’s 221,131/= (Two Hundred and Twenty One thousand, One hundred and Thirty one Shillings) she had accrued at the facility will be paid. Remember, Oasis Hospital doesn’t have mortuary facilities but they still held the body.

The family managed to raise the amount the next day on 30th July at noon and cleared with the Hospital. The Hospital then produced the body in a body bag and dumped it at the hospital’s parking lot. The family was forced to call for a hearse and put the body into the vehicle without any protective gear since the hospital never provided and no public health officers had been called to handle what had been declared as a Covid 19 death. They tried to secure a place in several morgues in Kisii to keep their kin as they made burial arrangement but they realized that Oasis Hospital had contacted all the morgues not to admit the body since it was a Covid 19 death.

The family then ferried the body to Nyamache Hospital mortuary that evening where they were given public health officers to help them transfer the body into a coffin. On opening the body bag the public health officials at Nyamache and the family realized that she had some cuts on her hip which looked like she had been operated on. They never understood why a Covid 19 patient would have such cuts!

Fenike was hurriedly taken home at Sameta, near Nyamokenye SDA and dumped in a shallow grave at 2am on 1st of August 2020 by Public Health officers leaving the family in shock and dismay. They never covered the grave and left forcing the family to cover it themselves the following morning. All the gloves and protective gears the public officers used were dumped and scattered all over around the grave.

The following day the family went to the hospital to demand for the deceased Covid 19 results, they were told to pay Ksh’s 3,000 for the report to be released, which they paid and they were never provided with it. They tried to know why their patient had been operated on without the family’s consent still the Hospital never provided answers. They kept on taking them on circles.

The family decided to visit the Kisii County Public Health offices to know if their kin had been registered as a Covid patient and death. They were told that Kisii had only recorded one Covid 19 death and that’s a nurse from Homabay. But after the officers making some frantic calls they changed the story and said that the patient had been confirmed to be Covid positive. They tried fixing the name to the list of the Covid 19 positive cases but with so many inconsistencies like age, names and date tested. The family tried to know why there is no contact tracing happening on those who had interacted with the patient and the answers were shocking. They were told that the government was already tired on contact tracing and whoever felt sick should self isolate themselves or visit any hospital.

From this it’s clear;

~ that the Patient (Fenike Karegi) was never tested for Covid 19 but Oasis Hospital decided to lie to the family.
~ that Oasis Hospital decided to hold a body of what they claimed to be a Covid 19 death for 28hrs until the bills were cleared when they don’t have mortuary facilities.
~ that Oasis Hospital never contacted the Kisii County Public Health office to inform them of a Covid 19 case and death in their facility.
~ that Oasis Hospital never took it upon themselves to help the public health officers initiate contact tracing even the person who was with the patient at the hospital when she was sick was let to go.
~ that Fenike Karegi never died of Covid 19.

The family is now living in fear as they are being stigmatized and can’t go on with their day to day activities as they have branded them a Corona family.

It’s sad that their kin was declared a Covid 19 case without even being subjected into testing. For how long is this going to happen that any death which happens out of negligence will be declared a Covid 19 death by Hospitals to avade responsibility!

The family is DEMANDING that Oasis Hospital, Kisii give an EXPLANATION on this matter and exonerate the family from STIGMA and FEAR!