Kiambu governor of Dr. James Nyoro has called on more well-wishers to donate towards those who have been adversely affected after losing their livelihoods to Covid -19.
He urged them to donate either food or items that could be used to contain the infections either in homes or in institutions that have been earmarked for isolation.
Dr. Nyoro revealed that a committee was liaising with people living in the diaspora so that they too could come on board and participate in ‘adoption’ of villages so as to cushion those who were affected by the pandemic
The governor made these remarks Thursday at his office when he received donations from at least 15 companies operating in Kiambu County amounting to Sh6.5 million.
Dr. Nyoro noted that since the pandemic hit Kenya in March this year, it had affected many families and called on those who could afford to donate towards cushioning them from starvation.
He noted that the Kiambu County Covid-19 Response committee was doing a splendid job of mobilizing resources and relief which would go a long way to alleviate the suffering of the people.
The Governor explained that his committee had come up with a temporary solution through which food worth Sh2, 500 could take a family of four for a whole month.
“The logistics sub-committee has done their mathematics and come up with that figure and I call upon one person to adopt a village and volunteer to feed like 10 families which would amount to Sh25, 000 or any amount that they could afford.
He said if they could do so and continue until the infections were contained, they would have adopted those families through an organised way thus helping to show kindness through the resources that God had blessed them with,” said Governor Nyoro.
The governor told the meeting that owing to the proximity of Kiambu to Nairobi, cases of Covid were going up very fast and more so following the opening the economy by the President on Monday.
“More people are going for the compliance certificate so that they may resume their businesses and this has resulted into the numbers of new infections going up,” he noted.
The Governor also attributed the increase in infected cases to the presence of multinationals operating in Kiambu saying they should be tested as they resumed engaging in business.
He said Tigoni, which has been designated as the Kiambu Covid-19 centre, has a bed capacity of 226 with 28 patients so far while the level 5 hospitals of Kiambu, Gatundu and Thika had a capacity of 102 beds.
He said the County has capacity for isolation of 500 beds and called on people to adhere to the health protocols to avoid contracting the virus which was expensive to treat.
Wangige hospital with a bed capacity of 100 beds has also been reserved for Covid 19 patients, making the county compliant to the 300 bed capacity for Covid-19 patients.
Among the special donations that the governor received were 5 ICU beds already installed at the Tigoni hospital from Tilisi Construction Company and 5 spraying pumps to be used for fumigation which were donated by Hardi Kenya, a company situated in Tatu city, Ruiru.
By Lydia Shiloya
