Government response to coronavirus outbreak refreshing

Barely a week after Mutahi Kagwe took over the mantle as the Health Cabinet Secretary, the country has seen a refreshing new urgency in tackling the threat of coronavirus.

Kagwe, breezed into the ministry to an anxious and impatient nation, getting increasingly irate with what looked like official complacency, even criminal negligence, in dealing with a health crisis that the World Health Organisation has dubbed a global health emergency. 

The new CS hit the ground running. The 300-bed isolation facility at Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi is now ready and hopefully, it will remain empty until the novel coronavirus is declassified.

Another isolation facility is being established at Kenyatta University Referral Hospital in Nairobi. 

The government has also contracted mobile service provider, Safaricom, to provide a free SMS alert service, to keep Kenyans informed on the latest updates.

The CS has also instituted a system of regular, open briefing sessions with the media, to keep Kenyans abreast of what his presidential committee on combating coronavirus is doing.

 The ministry has trained 1,000 officials on handling the virus, and deployed them countrywide.  

In the short space of one week, it now looks like the country is gearing up to ensure it retains its status of being coronavirus-free, or combat any infection coming into the country with efficiency, speed and urgency. 

Agriculture CS Peter Munya might want to borrow a leaf on how to deal with emergencies, as his fight against locusts seems to have been lost even before it begun.

These measures against the coronavirus are critical, and it is to be hoped that all countries are doing the same.

This is because it is only by denying this coronavirus fire of the oxygen of transmission will it be doused out.

The sooner the world snuffs out this fire the sooner it will be able resume normal operations. 

Indeed, the Herculean effort by the Chinese government to contain the epidemic in its borders seems to be paying off. Deaths are down. New infections have plateaued, and are tapering off. 

Indeed, the travel industry in China, which was almost dead in February, is on a major rebound as coronavirus fears fade, and citizens resume their normal lives.

Domestic hotels and flight bookings have registered an increase. Expect the country to be back in full operation in six months. That’s ruthless Chinese efficiency for you.

Africa is still not badly hit, and infections remain very low, especially of residents. African governments must guard this status very jealously indeed, by taking all measures possible.

This short term pain will mean that African countries will be in prime shape to take advantage of the global surge in economic output from all sectors as the world resumes normal business.

The strangest thing is that even as the coronavirus threat from China starts dissipating, it is becoming a major threat in other countries such as Italy, Iran and South Korea. 

While South Korea has gone all out to take drastic containment measures, Iran is still in denial, blaming external forces and finger-pointing. No wonder all its neighbours have closed off their borders with that country. 

It would be a pity if the original node of the coronavirus in China killed off the virus, and global infections started being spread from countries who saw their first infections almost a month into the epidemic, but failed to take adequate measures to stem its tide.

This is what happens when governments show no concern for their citizens.

Lastly, the coronavirus epidemic has major lessons for China on how to be a responsible global player.

When the epidemic started, China insisted that its nationals must be allowed into other countries like Kenya, and warned those “discriminating” against its citizens.

As it was doing this, China itself was keeping Hubei province, the origin of the virus, under lockdown in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus.

China must realise that as its global role expands, it is expected to start growing its global obligations and responsibilities in tandem, and must always act in the best interests of the international community. 

What the coronavirus has shown is that China still has a long way to go in terms of coming to terms with itself as a major global player. —gathukara@gmail.com