Trade ministry risks closure as 26 staff test positive for Corona

Noah Cheploen @cheploennoah

Novel coronavirus continued to ravage public offices after 26 staff at the Ministry of Trade tested positive for the disease.

Staff mass testing at the ministry headquarters at Teleposta Towers in Nairobi was conducted after a worker developed symptoms associated with the respiratory illness.

Following the results, senior ministry officials directed all staff who had not been tested for the virus to stay home until they undergo testing and turn out negative.

 “After employees were tested for the virus, 26 of them tested positive and that is when we were all told to undergo mandatory testing.

A memo was issued that if any staff member fails to do the test then they should just stay home,” said the source.

A similar situation was witnessed at the National Treasury where operations were scaled down after 19 staff tested positive for the virus.

An officer who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation confirmed that a second mass testing exercise was conducted yesterday to determine the exact situation.

Mandatory testing

“I am only going to work to be tested after that I will just go back home. We were told to wait for our results at home,” he said. 

Mass testing for the virus was also conducted at Mazingira House, the headquarters of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for the third day running following fears that a number of detectives had contracted the deadly virus.

The testing, which started on Tuesday followed revelations that court operations countrywide have been paralysed after staff at the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) had tested positive for Covid-19. 

Prosecutors were found to be positive after mass testing, forcing DPP Noordin Haji to scale down operations at his office on NSSF Building and Kibera, Milimani and Makadara law courts.

An Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions is among those who tested positive on a day that one of the magistrates involved in plea taking was also confirmed to have contracted the disease.

By last evening, sources said Haji and his senior officers were mulling suspending prosecutions across the country because of the large number of employees who had tested positive since the management began mass testing on July 30.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health gave expectant and lactating mothers a ray of hope by assuring them that the coronavirus cannot be passed from mother to baby either in the womb or through breast milk as it happens in other diseases such as HIV/Aids. 

While acknowledging that there was need for mothers to take all precautions seriously in order to keep the virus at bay, Health CAS Rashid Aman said cases of mother to baby transmission during “birthing” process was very unlikely.

Soaring cases

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country rose to 24, 411 after 538 more people tested positive by yesterday.

Eight more patients have died bringing the total number of fatalities to 399.

Aman said five per cent of people living in the Nairobi Metropolitan Area could already be carrying the virus albeit unknowingly.

On a positive note, 514 more patients have been discharged, pushing the number of recoveries to 10, 444.