Adhere to State orders, Kemri scientists now tell Kenyans

George Kebaso @Morarak

The coronavirus crisis can be handled in a short time if Kenyans adhere to all government directives, scientists at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) have said.

The experts, who are part of a team conducting Covid-19 tests, said the  novel virus is not as complicated as other viruses they have dealt with in the past.

Prof Matilu Mwau, who is leading the team at Kemri laboratories, exuded confidence that In due course, they will come up with treatment procedures to handle the respiratory disease.

“We are asking Kenyans not to panic, but to do the right thing by strictly observing hygiene and social distancing protocols.

In fact, up to 80 per cent of Kenyans who test positive for the virus will recover,” Mwau told the People Daily yesterday.

He revealed that the agency is awaiting the arrival of about 120,000 reagents from Roche, a global  pharmaceutical company.

“We will be able to test close to 30,000 samples or more in a day,” he said.

But to completely vanquish the virus, he said there is need for co-operation from the public “who must be obedient. Do as you are told,” he said.

The scientists have ordered extraction kits from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) to be used in separating the virus at the lab.

“We are curious to see whether we are capable of making test kits for the virus here. We similarly want to know whether it is agreeable to make a vaccine here,” said Mwau.