Twice, we have complained here about the government’s apparent unpreparedness in the face of the coronavirus outbreak in China, which is spreading like bush fire around the world.
What is worrying is that the so-called Covid-19, which has up to now infected 82,000 people globally and caused 2,800 deaths, doesn’t seem to bother our government much.
The government continues to tell the public that all is well, which is true because, despite false alarms, no case has been confirmed. However, despite assurances that the government is in control and fully prepared to deal with an outbreak, it is crystal clear that Kenya is a sitting duck.
To its credit, the government has been taking the body temperatures of incoming visitors to pick out any signs of coronavirus. But that’s about all.
It is doubtful the Health ministry has even stocked enough face masks to distribute to a fraction of the population in case of a serious outbreak. To compound matters, our health system is in shambles and to get a panadol in some health facilities is a miracle. Children, too, have been forced to go without vital vaccines.
Yet despite this gloomy picture, the government appears largely unbothered by the coronavirus that has forced some countries to shut their borders, lockout visitors from China or quarantine them for 14 days. If anything, our government has dropped guard.
It is still allowing planeloads of visitors from China and has even indicated that the number of flights from the country will increase in the near future.
It is clear that the government takes its relationship with China—which has helped it to build gleaming roads and the SGR—seriously. This is as it should be. However, it ought to take the health of its people more seriously.
The government says anyone coming from China should quarantine themselves for 14 days. This order, as we have pointed out before, is absurd. Can we be sure, for instance, that the 239 people who landed from China on Wednesday will isolate themselves, and therefore keep off their spouses and children for 14 days? That is expecting too much. If a parent is infected it is likely they will pass it to the children who will then take it to school.
If the government cannot itself quarantine everyone coming from China, Kenyans included, the best option is to suspend flights to and from there until the outbreak is put under control.
Of course, this will deal a massive blow to our economy—and we are already feeling the pain—as we import virtually everything from China. But that, unfortunately, looks like the best option now. A coronavirus crisis will make matters worse.
That’s why, like other countries—most of which are richer and have more robust health systems—we must fight to keep Covid-19 at bay by suspending the flights. Doing otherwise is to play Russian roulette with Kenyans' lives.
But we must not sit pretty even if the government suspends the flights. We must prepare for the worst, going by the rate the virus is spreading. In only two months it has been detected in 47 countries.
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