Enhance Covid vigilance

The discovery of the deadly Indian Covid-19 variant in the country is hardly the kind of news Kenyans would have wished to hear right now. It has come so soon after the government relaxed restrictions to ease the lockdown burden.

There had been a lot of optimism that the consequences of the pandemic, which has wrecked businesses and lives, would begin to ease. However, this is a reminder to all that the health crisis is not going away soon, and that the vigilance to curb the spread of the virus must be stepped up.

That the Covid variant that has been wreaking havoc in India might have been found in Kisumu is a wake-up call to all. It is particularly alarming, since cases of the Indian variant have also been reported in Uganda. The border is largely porous and the virus could also easily find its way into Kenya.

Containing the pandemic

Interestingly, before Kenya banned flights to and from India, five foreigners who had flown in from the Asian country and travelled to Kisumu, tested positive for Covid-19. This has naturally raised fears of the possible spread of the highly infectious variant.

The ban on travel to and from India is a good enough guarantee that no new cases came in after that and, therefore, the necessary measures must be strictly enforced. 

This Indian variant scare has been a good test case of the health authorities’ apt response to contain the pandemic. Particularly impressive is the co-operation between the health chiefs in Kisumu County and at the ministry’s headquarters in Nairobi. 

This is a huge health crisis as Covid-19 has claimed 2,825 lives, but it is encouraging that the positivity rate has remarkably declined. There is a need to revamp the government’s capacity to deal with new infections by enforcing compliance with the protocols and stepping up vaccinations.