The Lamu County government has begun disbursing 100,000 face masks among locals in a move aimed at improving Covid-19 preparedness.
The county government has set about distributing the face masks manufactured at the county’s TVETs to its 150,000 population within the next two weeks in a bid to get ahead of curve of preventing the spread of the novel Corona Virus.
Lamu County has yet to register a single case of Covid-19 since the first reported case in the country two months ago.
“The county has set about distributing the Covid-19 compliant face masks within the county, with 50,000 already distributed within Lamu West areas of Mpeketoni, Hindi, Witu and Mokowe,” said Education County Executive Paul Thairu, adding that an additional 50,000 masks will be distributed in Lamu East next week.
The County executive who was carrying out the distribution exercise in Mpeketoni was also aided by other senior county officials, stated that the exercise is part of the county’s Covid-19 preparedness plan.
He further revealed that the county government was already in the process of securing Covid-19 funds following the county assembly’s approval of a Sh 157 million supplementary budget.
Sentiments echoed by Lamu County Secretary John Mburu who reiterated the county’s commitment to ensure the residents safety against the COVID-19 virus.
He said that the county government had also put in place plans to disburse relief food to alleviate the food crisis among vulnerable families in Lamu.
Health CEC Dr. Anne Gathoni also interviewed by KNA also said that the county government had put in place a sufficient budget allocation to improve healthcare provision in light of the Covid-19 crisis.
County Commissioner Irungu Macharia lauded the move by the county government to distribute masks to members of the public in light of the Covid-19 crisis stating that it will aid in creating awareness over the Ministry of Health guidelines.
“The county government’s approach to freely disburse the masks will aid enhance the county’s COVID-19 readiness despite the lack of reported cases within the county,” Macharia stated.
By Amenya Ochieng
