Covid-19 red-listing unfair, but take care
The University of Cape Town will require all staff and students to be vaccinated against Covid-19 from January.
Last week, the United Kingdom moved Kenya from the red- to the amber-listed countries, enabling Britons to visit our country with fewer restrictions.
This action (gimmick?) seems to imply that one has a higher chance of contracting the disease in Kenya than in the UK. I find this notion preposterous. The statistics and numbers speak.
Global Covid-19 statistics provide a glaringly different picture. Just by looking at the per capita death numbers per million (PCDPM), we see the following:
The UK and United States have close to 2,000 PCDPM, compared to Kenya’s 90. Their rate of death from the coronavirus is 23 times what we are seeing in Kenya.
Kenya has been lauded worldwide for its response and control of the virus over the past 18 months. The results clearly demonstrate that not only should we not be on any European or American amber or red list, but we also ought to advise all the Kenyan citizens on the dangers and potential risks of travelling to these countries.
In my opinion, all the countries with a PCDPM rate of over 1,000 — including the UK, US, most of continental Europe, Peru and Brazil — should be placed on the red list and those with 400 to 1,000 on the amber roll.
We’re most comfortable with those nations that reflect a PCDPM of under 400 as they clearly demonstrate the technical ability to effectively control the spread of the pandemic.
One wonders, then, how Kenya was ever on the British red list in the first place. In fact, it’s Kenya that should place the UK on the red list as it remains a clear and present danger to the Kenyan citizenry.
Fact-check the Statistica and Worldometer reference websites and work according to the facts.
J. Mwangi, via email
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Of late, many Kenyans have ignored the necessary measures of preventing Covid-19. As a result, more people have caught the coronavirus, the experts say.
The steps to protecting yourself and those around you are pretty simple and easy to follow. Maintaining a safe distance from others, wearing a face mask in public and cleaning our hands with soap and water or sanitiser are the main steps of preventing ourselves from contracting the virus.
If nearly half of the blood donors had a previous exposure to Covid-19, that means Kenyans are underestimating how common the disease is in the country. Let us all get tested and vaccinated to prevent its further spread.
Hillary Mang’oli, Nairobi
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People who have not received their full dose of the Covid-19 vaccine should go and get it.
The number of infection cases keeps increasing due to the negligence of a few, yet we should fight the pandemic together by being cautious and getting vaccinated.
Alex Maina Irungu, Kisumu
