County Executive Committee Members (CECs) together with their respective County Chief Officers (CCOs) serving the county Government of Turkana turned up for Covid19 community testing at the health headquarters in Lodwar on Monday.
The exercise which is part of routine testing approved by the County Emergency Response Committee (CERC) and the County Health Rapid Response Team (CHRRT) was conducted by the county sample collection team in strict observance of Covid-19 prevention regulations of social distancing and face masking.
According to health CEC, Jane Ajele, the current team adds up to the groups which have already undergone the testing in Turkana. Ajele added that staff of all the arms of the Government as well as random members of the general public had already been reached by prior testing campaigns.
The testing comes at a time when the county Covid-19 case was standing at 55 cases after an additional 12 persons were reported to have tested positive in the last few days.
Speaking at the Health Headquarters after going through the process, Benson Lokwang CEC for Public Service, Administration and Disaster Management said that it was a personal responsibility to avail yourself for the testing whether called upon or not.
“As the CEC in charge of the administrative structure operating at grassroots level in Turkana, I have issued firm instructions to all the sub county and ward administrators to integrate Covid-19 sensitization in all their routine activities,” added CEC Lokwang’.
According to Dr.Roberts Abok the Chief officer for Health, the current testing exercise also targeted drivers, secretaries and personal assistants attached to the CECs and CCOs. Dr. Abok added that his ministry will continue offering the testing services with the aim of reaching the highest number possible.
On her part, the Chief Officer, Rosemary Nchinyei called upon the public to consider communicating with Government offices through mobile phones instead of physically visiting the offices. This will help to limit unnecessary contacts which may expose someone to Covid19 infection.
By Peter Gitonga
