Kenyans in quarantine threaten to commit suicide

A number of Kenyans in quarantine at Kenyatta University have pleaded with President Uhuru Kenyatta to come to their aid.

Through a video that was widely shared in social media, they lamented the harsh living conditions at the facility and wondered why they were being told to pay for their stay, saying they might commit suicide.

One of the patients who identified himself as Samuel Osore said he is asthmatic and despite testing negative for Coronavirus he had not been allowed to go home.

"I was told that I tested negative for the virus. However, they have not been treating me for my asthma, all I got were Piriton tablets.

"I am now stuck here and I have been told that I will not leave until I clear my entire bill," he narrated.

Another patient, John Ochieng said he has chest complications and he was first tested at Mbagathi Hospital.

Later he was informed that he would be taken to Kenyatta University and was forcefully taken to the institution by security personnel.

“We are being threatened that we must pay. The doctors are threatening us also,” he said.

They all said that they had tested negative but are still being held at the facility.

“Why should they charge us yet we are not working. We have been here for over 21 days. They have locked us here.

“Should we commit suicide? Will the government be happy if we die? Let them take us to court and imprison us,” they said.

On Monday, eight more people tested positive for the coronavirus, raising Kenya’s tally to 363.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the new cases were reported in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kwale counties from 366 tests.

The eight (four in Mombasa, three in Nairobi and one in Kwale) are aged between 13 and 65 years and had no foreign travel history.

"All of them are Kenyans. Before it used to be people who had travelled elsewhere," Kagwe said, pointing to the growing worry of community transmissions.