Counties ill equipped to fight pandemic, says CoG chairman

Council of Governors chair Wycliffe Oparanya (left) and Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa leave after a press conference in Nairobi yesterday on combating Coronavirus. [David Njaaga, Standard]

Counties are not adequately prepared to handle Coronavirus, and urgent intervention to improve their capacity to tackle the pandemic is critical, governors have said.

Speaking yesterday in Nairobi, Council of Governors (CoG) chairman Wycliffe Oparanya asked the national government to supply protective equipment and adequate testing kits, as well as train county health workers.

The county chiefs also want more money to deal with the pandemic and have called for a national meeting to deliberate on the economic impact of the disease now ravaging the world.

Mr Oparanya, who is also the Kakamega governor, urged Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe to ensure the country acquires enough medical stock to help counties contain the virus.

He said the council was worried now that neighbouring countries were confirming Covid-19 and called for border counties to be classified among high-risk regions for heightened surveillance.

Kenya’s neighbours Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi have all confirmed cases of the Coronavirus infection.

Oparanya said Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) and National Influenza Centre were the only laboratories countrywide capable of testing Coronavirus.

“County laboratory personnel have been trained, but not equipped to collect specimen. This in itself is a great risk for the country, should the disease spread rapidly in many counties at the same time,” said Oparanya, adding that longer turnaround time for sample collection and testing was not helping prompt response.

The governors urged the national government to equip all Level 4 and 5 facilities across the country to be able to collect and test samples.

The council called for training of more health workers for front-line case management.

Oparanya said counties needed more money to mitigate the national disaster, noting most devolved units had no budget in their emergency vote, given that this was happening towards the end of the financial year.

Thanking President Uhuru Kenyatta for showing leadership in the country’s response towards Coronavirus pandemic, Oparanya called on him to convene a national meeting to discuss the economic impact of the virus.

He said the country needed to strategise on how to mitigate the economic effects of the pandemic and called on all stakeholders to work together for the sake of the people.

“Each of us should play his or her role. Landlords can allow their tenants not to pay this month’s rent. Each member of the public should remain vigilant as the risk is still high. Let them maintain basic hand and respiratory hygiene, safe food handling processes and avoid close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections,” Oparanya said, adding that people should also avoid public gatherings like funerals and weddings.

Embu Governor Martin Wambora thanked the county's residents for quickly identifying people who had travelled outside the country, but not presented themselves to hospital.

Bungoma Governor Wycliffe Wangamati called for more vigilance in the coming days, noting that how the country responds now would determine how well the pandemic is handled. “In Italy, US, China, South Korea and all the world, the cases began with one or two cases, then surged in subsequent weeks. What Kenya does in the coming weeks is critical in saving our people,” said Mr Wangamati.

Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa called for collaboration between national and county governments.