Funerals, public gatherings are super spreaders- Kagwe

Funerals, political and public gatherings continue to be Covid-19 super spreaders, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has said.

The CS urged for more resilience against the disease reiterating that the fight against the pandemic is now more of a personal responsibility and not policing.

 “You attend a funeral today while in good health, and a few days later, we attend yours. We are witnessing a deadly cycle as a result. We cannot show solidarity by following the deceased,” he said.

He again sent warning shots to political leaders calling and holding public gatherings, which he says are where most people are contracting the virus.

“The responsibility of political gatherings lies with the politicians and those who attended,” the CS said.  

 Kagwe urged teachers and workers in schools across the country to get their Covid-19 jabs at the available centres, to lessen the infection rate in schools, even as the delta variant ravages.

“There is no shortage of vaccination for teachers and other school workers.”

“Right now, the dominant variant is delta. It is transmitting faster than other variants we’ve had and its severity is also more,” he noted.

Kagwe spoke on Thursday at Afya House, Nairobi when he hosted his Tanzanian counterpart Dr Dorothy Gwajima for bilateral talks.

Kenya and Tanzania have agreed to find solutions to fight off the disease at their borders in a collaborative effort.

Tanzania began its nationwide vaccination drive last week, led by President Samia Suluhu who received her first Covid-19 Janssen vaccine jab at State House, Dar es Salaam.