How Kigali plans to tackle Covid-19 with fingertip devices

The City of Kigali has deployed 73 pulse oximeters in Gasabo District to help covid-19 patients on home-based care. The devices, which were distributed in 73 cells that make up Gasabo District, were rolled out under a campaign dubbed “Operation Save the Neighbour from Covid-19.” The fingertip devices, which measure the levels of oxygen in blood, will help to detect patients in need of intensive care and thus reduce Codvid-19 deaths. According to Dr. Menelas Nkeshimana, the Team Lead for Covid-19 Case Management at Rwanda Biomedical Centre, at least 96 per cent of the current Covid-19 patients are placed on home-based care. As of February 9, the country had 3,597 active cases of Covid-19. Nkeshimana explained that the devices will detect Covid-19 patients with low amount of oxygen, put them under intensive care in Covid-19 treatment centres, thus avoiding deaths. “This is important because we even see those taken to hospital with 30 per cent level because it had not been detected earlier,” he said. Oxygen levels of a healthy adult without respiratory diseases should measure above 95 per cent while a person with factors such as tobacco, other diseases that might have affected lungs, the amount of oxygen stands between 90 per cent and 92 per cent, Nkeshimana explained. If the pulse oximeter detects that a Covid-19 patient has below 88 per cent, it means the amount of oxygen is low. He explained that levels of oxygen can diminish in Covid-19 patients without their knowledge and therefore supplying pulse oximeters to health community workers in villages is timely for early detection. “We urge districts and stakeholders to work together to ensure the health community workers get the devices,” he noted. Pauline Umwali, the Executive Administrator of Gasabo District, said that the district has 75 medical doctors and about 300 nurses who will help in the implementation process. “We worked with them to get the idea to mobilize resources from our district stakeholders to buy pulse oximeters.We agreed with them to work with community health workers to fight against covid-19 deaths among patients on home base care,” she said. She said there are four community health workers at each village and two others at cell level who will support the initiative under the support of medical doctors. She added 73 motorcycles in district cells will also facilitate them in terms of transport as they test Covid-19 patients in home-based care every day. “Whenever a community health worker will detect a covid-19 patient in critical situation, they will alert the doctors to rush the patient to hospital for intensive care,” she said. Andre Mutsindashyaka, the President of District Joint Action Development Forum (JADF) in Gasabo District said that resources will continue to be mobilized to ensure community health workers get more pulse oximeters. Pudence Rubingisa, the Mayor of the City of Kigali, urged residents to double their efforts in the fight against the pandemic. “The numbers are decreasing and we should keep that trend,” he said. The 21-day lockdown that was recently imposed on Kigali has had a tremendous impact, reducing new Covid-19 cases in the city by 72 per cent according to the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) Director-General.

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How Kigali plans to tackle Covid-19 with fingertip devices