United States military personnel based in Lamu’s Simba military base have donated 200,000 rewashable masks to the area residents to help them combat Covid-19.
According to Civil Military Support Element (CMSE) Team Commander Shelton Thelismon who spoke on behalf of US military at Mokowe Health Centre during the donation ceremony Tuesday, the rewashable masks are Kenyan made and are part of the US military gesture for the continued partnership between the two countries in addressing the pandemic through effective responses.
He stated that the masks will initially be sent to all health facilities and will aid in curbing further spread of the virus, even as the country opens up slowly, with a decline in Covid-19 numbers globally.
At the same time, Thelismon acknowledged that the masks would be useful despite arriving late due to logistical challenges in procuring the specific kind of mask that could be used over and over again.
Lamu County Commissioner Irungu Macharia lauded the donation and urged members of the public not to drop their guard against Covid-19.
He urged residents to continue wearing masks despite the country slowly reopening with a decline in the number of infected cases countrywide.
Macharia further noted that Lamu’s responses to tackling the global pandemic have been fruitful with the county registering only 125 positive cases and four fatalities.
“We are appreciative to our development partners for their assistance in aiding to curb the spread of COVID-19, which globally has been a challenge for all the countries that have been affected,” he said.
The county commissioner added that the measures put in place by the national and county government have so far aided in preventing the spread of COVID-19, while highlighting the devolved unit move to install water points across various areas in its town centres including Amu, Mokowe, Hindi and Mpeketoni.
The same sentiments were echoed by Mokowe hospital administrator Dr. Jonah Otieno who urged the public to remain vigilant despite the government’s recent move to ease restrictions against Covid-19.
By Amenya Ochieng
