Kenya has received a donation of 500,000 COVID-19 test kits from the Jack Ma Foundation.
The post questions why Kenya had only done 17,992 coronavirus tests by April 28 yet it received a half-million swabs and test kits, 300 ventilators, 4.6 million masks, 200,000 sets of personal protective equipment, face shields, temperature guns and gloves., Embedded in the post is the April 29 cover page of The Star newspaper, whose headline was a story about the Kenya Medical and Research Institute (KEMRI) running out of test kits. KEMRI is responsible for evaluating all diagnostic kits in the country., The World Health Organization (WHO) says that test kits are vital in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 and recommends that countries test all suspected cases of the disease to suppress the spread of the virus. Tests enable authorities to treat and isolate patients and their recent social contacts., Government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna confirmed in a phone interview with PesaCheck that the government received an assortment of medical supplies from the Jack Ma Foundation, including test kits and personal protective equipment., “We have received a total of 20,000 COVID-19 testing kits and other medical equipment to help in the fight against the pandemic. The donations have been brought into the country in two batches, with the first one delivered on March 24 and the second batch on April 15,” he said., Jack Ma announced on his Twitter account that each of the 54 African countries would receive 20,000 test kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 medical protective suits and face gear., The second consignment consisted of 500 ventilators, 200 protective suits and face shields, 200,000 thermometers, 1 million swabs, and extraction kits, and 500,000 gloves that were distributed to all the 54 countries within the continent., In a press statement dated April 27, the Africa Centres for Disease Control confirmed that it had received the third batch of medical supplies from the Jack Ma Foundation., “The donation is to support COVID-19 response by African Union member states and it includes 4.6 million masks, 500,000 swabs, and test kits, 300 ventilators, 200,000 sets of protective clothing, 200,000 face shields, 2,000 temperature guns, 100 body temperature scanners, and 500,000 pairs of gloves,” part of the statement read., Oguna confirmed that Kenya is yet to receive its share of the third consignment but the supplies are expected to be dispatched from Ethiopia soon., Kenya has so far reported 465 COVID-19 cases, with 167 recoveries and 24 fatalities as of May 4., PesaCheck has looked into the claim that Kenya has received 500,000 COVID-19 test kits from the Jack Ma Foundation and finds it to be FALSE., This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms., By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds., Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content., This fact-check was written by PesaCheck Fact-Checker James Okong’o and edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Enock Nyariki., The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Eric Mugendi., PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water/sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org., PesaCheck is a joint initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with additional funding support from the International Budget Partnership (Kenya) and Twaweza, in partnership with a coalition of local media organisations, and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ)., Written by, Written by
FALSE: The Jack Ma Foundation has not donated 500,000 COVID-19 test kits to Kenya