The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper print
operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The Standard Group is recognized as a
leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and international interest.
Tough times lie ahead for Nairobi residents after the government vowed to instigate stringent measures to contain the spread of coronavirus.
As Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe announced yesterday that 12 more people had tested positive, his counterpart from the Ministry of Interior, Fred Matiang’i, said the government has already mapped out key areas where Ministry of Health guidelines are not being followed; pointing to an increased risk of further spread.
“From tonight, we are going to turn up the heat. From the reporting of positive cases today, you can tell the clustered estates which are giving us problems and those which are likely to be hotspots shortly. All of them have got common characteristic: recklessness and disobedience to the guidelines given by the Ministry of Health,” Matiang’i said.
Speaking at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport yesterday, Kagwe said five of the cases are hotel workers -- four of them diagnosed after contact tracing. He was at JKIA to receive a consignment of medical supplies from China and was accompanied by Matiang’i and Transport CS James Macharia.
Positive cases
“As we stand right now, at this hour, we have already tested about 450 samples. Out of this, we have already got 12 positive cases and we have not finished the day. We need to really start the testing capacity so that the contacts of those who are positive can also be tested to contain the pandemic,” Kagwe said.
The new cases bring the number of those infected to 246 nationally.
Kagwe received 500,000 three-ply masks, 200,000 testing and sampling tubes, 4,000 shoe covers for doctors, 300 static shoes used in theatres, 76,000 N95 masks and visors.
Testing and sampling tubes are essential for mass testing which Kenya is now embarking on.
“Without them, we would have not been able to start mass testing, but with these tubes, we are able to fast track,” he said.
So far, 10,784 tests have been done. Different facilities will now be able to do mass testing after acquiring machines.
“We were getting desperate for some of the items that are on this flight. Cooperation across all government agencies is what is going to help us in winning this war,” Kagwe said.
The government is expecting another flight with ventilators and other medical facilities.
There has been growing concerns over the exorbitant prices people have to pay for masks, despite the government’s assurance that there are enough masks that will cost less than Sh20. A spot check within the city reveals that most masks are being sold at an average of Sh100.
join