Hundreds of travellers who flew into the country in the past three days are being held in mandatory quarantine as part of measures to curb the spread of coronavirus disease.
Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe (pictured) had announced that people arriving from Sunday night until midnight today – when all international flights will be barred from landing in the country – will be held in isolation at their own expense.
Most of the new arrivals on Sunday and Monday were on flights that originated from the Middle East and Ethiopia.
Those quarantined, who also include foreigners and flight crews, are being held in one of 15 hotels and government facilities earmarked for the exercise.
They include Boma Hotel in South C, Kenya School of Government in Kabete, Kenya School of Monetary Studies and Utalii Hotel.
Others are being held in private hotels in Mombasa with government officials saying they expect up to 2,000 travellers will be held in isolation for the next 14 days.
The facilities have given negotiated daily charges that range between $40 and $100 (Sh4,200 and Sh10,500) per day for the two-week stay.
There was a standoff at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Monday evening when the new arrivals refused to board buses that were waiting to take them to designated holding places.
After a long argument where the travellers complained that they were being asked to pay for their stay at the facilities yet they did not have money, they finally agreed to board the buses.
“We are being told to pay up to $100 (Sh10,500) for a hotel per night yet we knew we were coming home. This is our home,” said one of the travellers. Others said no safety or logistical measures had been put in place to facilitate their isolation, including personal protective equipment and an adequate supply of sanitisers.
During his Monday briefing, Mr Kagwe acknowledged the teething problems, apologised to all the affected individuals and assured that everything would be put in order.
“I want, at this point, to issue an apology to the parents and individuals who have been inconvenienced since last night. We are aware that we had logistical challenges that we encountered as a result of the speed at which we wanted to move into quarantining individuals,” he said. About 500 individuals who were quarantined at the Kenya School of Government had been asked to pay $40 (Sh4,200) per day before the amount was lowered to $20 (Sh2,100) after they raised concerns.
Similar complaints were witnessed at the Utalii College with the arrivals complaining of lack of social amenities.
Kagwe pleaded with the hotels, which are charging as much as Sh12,000 per day, to reduce the charges as part of their corporate social responsibility.
Stay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter
“I want to thank those hotels that have already admitted the quarantined people, but we are appealing to you ... these are people who came to the country without a plan to spend money in a hotel. If your normal charges are Sh12,000 you should not be charging more than 50 or 25 per cent of that.”
The Cabinet secretary further assured that Ministry of Health officials and security officers will be deployed to the various quarantine facilities to ensure smooth running of operations.
“It is also important to be appraised of the fact that probably none of them is positive. So we don’t want to stigmatise people who are as healthy as you and I. It is only necessary to test them because of exposure,” said Kagwe.
Covid-19 symptoms
Boma Hotel, which is owned by the Kenya Red Cross (KRC), sent a memo to staff explaining that those being quarantined had not presented with Covid-19 symptoms, and that they had undergone thorough screening at the airport as well as on arrival at the facility.
KRC Secretary General Asha Mohamed said public health officials are closely monitoring all persons under quarantine.
“That while at the hotel, each will be strictly confined to their room and will not be allowed to walk around the hotel, the KRC campus or interact with any other person until they are cleared to leave by public health officials from the Ministry of Health,” said Ms Mohamed.
She added that any person who exhibits symptoms of the disease will be moved to a designated facility.
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.
join