Uproar as politicians flout safety rules, endanger lives

The Ministry of Health appeared frustrated yesterday after politicians continued to flout safety measures put in place to contain the spread of coronavirus at a time the country is experiecing a sharp increase in new cases.

In his daily briefing, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe warned the situation was getting serious sual in reference to the latest data, 9 which shows that 93 per cent of new cases are community based transmissions.

In a speech read on his behalf by Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Rashid Aman, Kagwe said that the current state of affairs should “worry anyone who cares about our country” expressing fears that leaders are being a bad example.

He said the situation should jolt citizens into action to ensure they strictly adhere to the containment measures spelt out to curtail any further spread, said Kagwe. “However, it seems that this has not been the case,” he said. 

The CS said that he was particularly concerned that people in Nairobi have gone back to normalcy despite the fact that it has—firmly—become the epicenter with 7, 744 against the national tally of 13, 771 cases.

In the past few days, we have continued to observe misbehavior by our people, including some of our leaders who are heal-bent on flouting all the measures we have put in place, he added.

“I am saddened, a lot of people do not seem to care and have thrown all caution to the wind. We are aware that some of our people are not taking this disease seriously!” he warned. 

He regretted that some of the people do not believe the figures provided. He asked Kenyans not behave like the biblical doubting Thomases as the experince would pass as a painful lesson and sad experiences.

“Do not wait until one of your family members is infected for you to act,” he said.

“That is why we shall not tire reminding you that we must strictly adhere to the containment measures of washing hands with soap, maintaining social and physical distance and wearing of masks in public places,” he said. 

Kagwe called on Kenyans to avoid all forms of public gatherings. “Before any cure is discovered for the virus, these are our only weapons at the moment, he said, adding: “If we must save our country from the pandemic, we have no other option, but to follow them strictly”. 

His  remarks came on a day that Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja presented himself to police following last Friday’s dramatic scenes where he was arrested at a pub along Dennis Pritt Road, adjacent to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s State House residence, in Nairobi where he was having drinks with friends.

Positive note

Ironically, Sakaja is the chairman of Senate ad hoc Committee on Covid-19 and has appeared in various advertisements by Ministry of Health educating Kenyans on the safety precautions. 

Yesterday, the Senator announced that  he was resigning from the position and apologised to Kenyans for being on the wrong. 

The latest turn of events comes as the number of confirmed cases in the country increased after 418 people turned out positive from some 2, 474 samples tested in the last 24 hours.

This brings the number of people tested since the virus struck in March to 246, 361.

On a positive note, some 494 more patients have been discharged bringing the number of recoveries to 5,616.

Out of this, 465 patients were on the home-based care programme while 29 were receiving treatment in various hospitals.  

Sadly, the country has lost four more people to the virus taking the death toll to 238.