Noven Owiti and Hilary Mageka

Up to 12 counties in Western and Nyanza regions are staring at a possible lockdown following a sharp increase in Covid-19 infections in recent weeks.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i hinted the government is mulling imposing stiffer containment measures in the affected counties.

The region’s governors are also pushing for a partial lockdown.

Addressing a meeting of regional and county commissioners yesterday at the Kenya Government School, Matiang’i revealed that the National Emergency Response committee (NERC) has been meeting regularly and was expected, in consultation with President Uhuru Kenyatta, to come up with new guidelines on enhanced containment measures.

“It is becoming absolutely necessary that we enhance the containment measures in Nyanza and partly Western Kenya counties,” said Matiang’i.

“This may lead us to introducing new measures to deal with movement and some social activities all of which are intended to manage the surge of Covid-19 cases,” he added.

The affected counties are Nandi, Kericho, Kisumu, Siaya, Vihiga, Kakamega, Busia, Bungoma, Migori, Homa Bay, Kisii and Nyamira.

Health experts have warned that the epicentre of the disease had moved from Nairobi to the Lake Basin region, North Rift and Upper Eastern.

“The partial lockdown may be just one of the possible measures to be undertaken, but is not the ultimate solution. There is a great need for a drastic shift in the peoples’ daily ways of life.

There are certain things that people must desist from doing to contain the situation,” Prof Khama Rogo, the chairman of the Lake Region Economic Bloc advisory committee of eminent persons on Covid-19 told People Daily.

Unless people in the region embrace behavioural change, Rogo warned, the counties of Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay, Busia, Nandi, Kakamega, Kisii and Nyamira will continue recording more transmissions of the virus in coming days.

“The rapid spread in Covid-19 infections is an indication that people are not adhering to health protocols.

It is important to note that behavioural change at an individual level cannot always be enforced by the government. It is a personal initiative,” Prof Rogo warned.

He said Covid-19 infection rates in the Lake Basin, particularly in Kisumu area, are rising exponentially, with the region registering more than 7,000 new infections in the last one month.

Medical experts have attributed the trend to three factors, namely the “extremely virulent” communal spread of the Indian variant; behavioural and cultural practices that expose residents, and the local people’s casual approach to restrictions.

Enhanced testing since the discovery of the Indian variant in Kisumu in early could also explain the high figures.

Tens of cases of the Indian variant have been recorded in Kisumu County, with a new spike of infections said to have risen after the June 1, Madaraka Day celebrations in the lakeside town.

Matiangi’s warning comes days after governors Anyang’ Nyong’o (Kisumu), Sospeter Ojaamong’ (Busia), Wycliffe Wangamati (Bungoma), Wycliffe Oparanya (Kakamega) and Stephen Sang’ (Nandi) asked for a partial lockdown to be considered in select areas to tame the surge in infections.

They said a partial lockdown of areas which have recorded high number of infections could save the region from turning into a hotspot. 

Already, Birongo Ward in Kisii County has been put under tougher containment measures after a surge in Covid-19 related deaths.

Yesterday, Kisii Governor James Ongwae remained non-committal on whether the national government would place the region’s counties under partial lockdown.

“There have been lockdowns in other regions, they came and went, as a region we have made recommendations based on the surge in numbers but the final decision is with NERC,” Ongwae said.

One of the behavioural changes that Rogo and other health experts are advocating is the penchant by individuals from the region residing in various parts of the country to travel home to attend funerals and other social events that bring many people together.

Fishing activities

The frequency of travel upcountry for burials, weddings, dowry negotiations, family meetings and other social events, Prof Rogo says, had resulted in the virus being entrenched in communities.

And during funerals, huge crowds are attracted to the feasting and ‘disco matanga’, an overnight dance sessions in honour of the dead.

“We need to be more vigilant and take up personal responsibility to slow down the spread of the virus. And this has to be done voluntarily without coercion,” he observed.

Other common features by communities within the region, which experts say need to be changed include blatant disregard of health protocols including wearing of masks, frequent washing of hands and avoiding gathering in market places, social joints, churches and public vehicles.

Dr Githinji Gitahi, an infectious diseases expert and CEO of Amref Health Africa, fishing activities in the lake and communal lifestyles of local people had also contributed to the virus surge.

“People in these areas still consider themselves communal and as a result, you find hundreds of relatives flocking a homestead or hospital to visit the sick regardless of whether it is Covid-19 or any other disease,” Githinji said.

Prof Rogo and Githinji also sounded a warning over political gatherings in the region.