Kenyans back to old habits amid big recovery leap
The government has expressed concerns that Kenyans had reverted to normal business while majority of truck drivers were not adhering to the rules and restrictions given to them despite the number of corona cases in the country increasing to 2, 216 after 123 persons tested positive yesterday.
Health CAS Dr. Rashid Aman yesterday raised concerns that truck drivers are not adhering to the rule of presenting a Covid-free certificate while Kenyans operating at the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) were either not wearing masks or are worn improperly.
“Truck drivers must take the coronavirus test 48 hours prior to commencing their journey.
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We have observed that majority of them arrive at our borders without valid document expecting to be tested at the border,” said Aman.
Addressing the daily press briefing, Aman however announced that Kenya has recorded the highest number of recoveries to coronavirus disease, as 54 people were discharged yesterday.
While celebrating the recoveries, Aman said the recoveries are the highest ever, since the first recovery was reported on April 1.
“I am delighted to inform you we have discharged 54 patients who have recovered from coronavirus disease.
This is the highest number of recoveries we have so far recorded since we announced the first discharge case on April 1 and this brings the total number of recoveries to 553,” said Aman during the daily update on the status of coronavirus disease in the country.
The total number of positive cases now stands are 2,216 while the total number of samples tested so far is 85,058.
However, three more patients aged 12, 41 and 71 respectively, succumbed to coronavirus bringing the number of fatalities to 74.
Expectations among truck drivers that they will be tested at the border point, said the CAS, has caused unnecessary snarl-up and delays, a scenario that can be avoided.
“All drivers are reminded to adhere to the safety protocols to avoid inconveniencing other road users,” he added.
It is also a concern for government that people at the CBD are either not wearing masks or are worn improperly.
“It is as if people have abandoned caution we have been preaching and are moving around as though business is normal, a casual walk in Nairobi is revealing.
You will notice a lot of people not wearing masks or are not worn properly and this is unacceptable,” said Aman.
The CAS noted: “Masks are not chin guards, we notice people who also wear the masks but only cover the mouth but this defeats the purpose.
The mask must be properly worn to cover the mouth and nose to effectively do the job of protecting you and others.”
He told Kenyans to take responsibility of protecting themselves from the disease.
At the same time, Aman said many entertainment joints had re-opened to full business with total disregard of the safety protocols provided.
“I am sure that you have seen some video clips in social media showing people crowding entertainment joints throwing all caution to the wind as regards social distancing.
This is unacceptable and if anything, creates perfect environment for infection…we must not allow ourselves to quickly recede to the old days,” Aman cautioned.
Aman also admitted to a backlog of samples though he did not quantify it saying it is a common phenomenon with expanded level of testing.
He however said Government is working as much as possible to clear the backlog so as not to keep people in quarantine facilities longer than they should.
He dismissed reports of misplaced samples saying in a situation as this on coronavirus, the logistics of moving sample from different parts of the country may take time before they are received in laboratories.
The 123 new cases were distributed across different regions with Nairobi recording the highest figure of 44, then Mombasa with 44, Busia with 20, Uasin Gishu had 12, Kiambu, Kajiado and Nyeri recorded three each, Kilifi had two while Garissa and Laikipia had one case respectively.
In Nairobi, 10 cases were from Kibra, 9 from Westlands, four from Dagoretti North and Embakasi West each while Embakasi South, Langata, Makadara, Mathare and Kasarani had three cases respectively.
In Mombasa, 11 cases were from Mvita, eight from Jomvu, five from Changamwe, four from Likoni while Kisauni and Nyali had three cases each.
The 20 cases from Busia were all truck drivers at the Malaba border while 12 cases in Uasin Gishu were at Turbo.
