The Kwale Governor, Salim Mvurya and the County Women Representative, Zuleikha Hassan on Monday urged residents to strictly follow Ministry of Health advisories to prevent the spread of Covid-19 (the official name of the coronavirus) disease.
The two leaders said residents should avoid direct contact with others such as shaking hands, kissing and hugging for their safety.
The duo added there was no need to panic amid the coronavirus scare but that safeguards must be embraced and encouraged people to join others around the world in prayers for God to stop the virus.
Zuleikha announced that she has scaled-down her public engagements, including meet-the-people-tours and urged other political leaders to follow suit.
“Healthy behavior is necessary in the wake of the global outbreak to prevent the spread of the disease,” she said.
The governor said greeting is a popular affair among the local coastal communities involving elaborate handshaking and hugging and warned that the tradition could also spread the virus.
Mvurya said quarantine facilities have been set up in Matuga, Kinango, Msambweni, and Lunga Lunga sub-counties.
The county boss said the special facilities are manned by qualified health personnel who are able to handle infectious diseases and are on standby and monitoring all cases.
He said rapid response teams have also been activated and are on standby to monitor and investigate cases in the county.
The Coronavirus symptoms include dry cough, tiredness and shortness of breath and incubation period ranges from 1-14 days and that almost 80 percent of people recover from the disease.
There is no vaccine against the virus that originated from Wuhan city in China in December 2019.
Kenya has so far confirmed three cases of covid-19 with the first being of a patient who had flown from Ohio, USA via London to Nairobi.
On Sunday President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered immediate closure of schools to curb the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, the Nyeri County today announced precautionary measures to safeguard the general public from possible infection.
Speaking to the Press at his office, the Nyeri Governor, Mutahi Kahiga confirmed that his administration has set up a quarantine facility at Mt. Kenya Hospital with a 21-bed capacity within town.
Governor Kahiga also said the County has deployed personnel who have previously served in Liberia in combating the Ebola crisis to the facility as expertise to manage any possible cases that may be detected.
Kahiga further said that the County government has equally prioritized procurement of hand sanitizing material and personal protective equipment at a cost of Sh.15 million to be supplied for use within all hospital facilities.
He however, encouraged residents to immediately contact hospitals on any suspected case of the COVID-19 within the county.
He said his office has also provided a standby ambulance for transportation of any patient who may suffer from this infection to the quarantine facility.
“We are in partnership with the National government, Kenya Red Cross Society and private medical facilities to provide all the necessary care and support to our community,’’ said Kahiga.
Kahiga also directed the closure of all Early Childhood Development Education Centres (ECDEs) and Vocational Training Centers (VTC) with immediate effect and urged parents to encourage pupils to continue studying from home until further notice.
On public transport vehicles and all Saccos operating within the sector, the Governor said they have been encouraged to provide hand disinfectants and always ensure PSVs are well aerated.
At the same time, all County government seminars and meetings whose business is not urgent were suspended with immediate effect for a period of 30 days, and further discouraged congregating of people within entertainment joints.
He said all bars and institutions selling alcoholic beverages being business regulated by the Nyeri County Alcoholic Drinks and Control Act are required to provide sanitizing agents and close their businesses by 10pm beginning today.
The governor further suspended all scheduled public appointments in his office held every Tuesday until further notice and called on the public to be aware of the prevailing circumstances and take personal initiative in protecting themselves and their families.
Elsewhere, the Bomet residents have complied with the directives from President Uhuru Kenyatta and Health Cabinet Secretary (CS), Mutahi Kagwe, in an effort to contain the spread of Coronavirus in the country.
During a spot check by KNA, today, most schools and offices were both shut down because of the outbreak and some workers were still not sure whether to work from home or at their offices.
The question most residents were posing to the journalists is as to where one should go for voluntary testing and how prepared were the local hospital medics.
Francis Langat, a hotelier in Bomet town, wanted to know how many people in Kenya have tested positive from the coronavirus and from which regions.
“We have witnessed interventions, including individual “social distancing” and the cancellation of big events, even more important, churches yesterday, had minimal gatherings,” he stated.
The Bomet County Commissioner, Geoffrey Omoding lauded the area residents for adhering to the directives and appealed to all business community to follow instructions provided by the public health officials.
“We have placed sanitization material at all essential services offices, including mine so that we can continue to provide services,” the Commissioner said.
Kenya confirmed the first case of the Covid-19 disease on Friday and two more infected persons were confirmed on Sunday, where President Uhuru Kenyatta, appealed to citizenry to be vigilant and not to panic.
By KNA TEAM
