Kenyan traveller’s case exposes chaotic approach to containing Covid-19

She grabbed her suitcases, settled her bills and stormed out of the hotel where she was supposed to quarantine for Covid-19 for 10 days, ending her 72-hour ordeal at the hands of immigration and health officers.

By the time Beta Mumbi* decided to leave Hotel Rio in Nairobi West for home on Monday evening, she had had enough. After three days at the hotel, the woman says no one from the Ministry of Health (MoH) had contacted her or assisted her in any way.

Mumbi was one of the passengers who had arrived in Nairobi from Johannesburg through Blantyre aboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET50 on Saturday.

Upon touchdown, she and other travellers from South Africa were isolated, their passports confiscated by port authorities and detained for more than four hours without explanation.

The group would later undergo a Covid-19 rapid test. Mumbi tested positive.

“We were just told that Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) would pick us up and take us to a hotel. While waiting, we were not provided with drinking water or allowed to use the bathrooms even after the exhausting trip,’’ an agitated Mumbi told the Nation.

At 11.30pm, after hours of confusion at the international arrivals section of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Mumbi and three others would be bundled into the back of an NMS ambulance. Destination? Hotel Rio. Reason? To quarantine for the mandatory 10 days.

“The ambulance dropped us off and left. When I enquired about my stay from airport health services, I was informed that I was in the hands of NMS as soon as I had left the airport,’’ Mumbi said.

Being a weekend and with the Jamhuri Day public holiday extending to Monday, Mumbi knew she had been left to her own devices for the next three days. 

Her passport was still in the custody of airport health officials, who said it would be released to her once she turned in a negative test. 

“I’m Kenyan. By withholding my passport even after I had shared my contact details, the officials violated (my rights).”

Her experience shines a spotlight on how government officials are manhandling travellers from Covid-19 hotspots as the world finds itself in the middle of the Omicron variant of the contagious virus.

“No one consulted us about where we wanted to stay. We were just asked to choose from a list of hotels going for between Sh5,000 and Sh16,000 per night.”

The Nation could not immediately establish how many travellers were quarantining at the city hotel or the criteria for selecting quarantine facilities. What’s interesting, though, is that nothing indicated that Hotel Rio was prepared to handle Covid-19 patients, Mumbi said.

“We were received just like any other guests and shown to our rooms. It’s only after my dad protested that the staff started putting on masks.”

The attendants entered her room nonchalantly while delivering meals and other assistance. ‘‘If (quarantining) is meant to contain the spread of the virus, shouldn’t the government ensure that as a patient you don’t contract the virus or infect others?’’ Mumbi said, noting that the experience made her more vulnerable.

On Saturday, hotel staff informed them that a doctor would come to see them. But in a bizarre turn of events, she was later told that her name wasn’t on the list of patients staying at the hotel, and that the doctors had on Sunday seen only those who were documented.

“The front desk promised to call the doctor to come see me on Monday after I complained,” she recounted, adding that none came.

When the results of her PCR test came out on Tuesday, Mumbi found out she had tested positive for the virus. In what points to the government’s lacklustre approach to containing the virus, she said no one from the Ministry of Health (MoH) had contacted her since her departure from the hotel two days ago.

“It was a frustrating weekend because there was barely any communication from the authorities. I feared that I might stay at the hotel for 10 days without any care, especially if I fell sick.”

She added: “I’ll continue to isolate at home because I’m asymptomatic. When I produce a negative test, I’ll go to reclaim my passport.”

Passengers entering Kenya from South Africa, where the Omicron variant of Covid-19 was first observed, have decried being subjected to unfair treatment by port authorities while those from other destinations with confirmed cases have entered with ease.

Wangu Maina said a friend who had travelled from Zimbabwe last week was asked to wait in an ambulance for hours “with no information from NMS” even as other travellers arrived and left the airport.

A Kenyan living in South Africa said he had to travel back home without his family, unwilling to subject his wife and children to these “horrors” and “circus”.

Some 77 countries have confirmed cases of Omicron, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has described as spreading at an “unprecedented” rate.

In an official response to queries from the Sunday Nation, MoH explained that the government had updated its procedures for handling arrivals at all points of entry, including JKIA, as Kenya battles Omicron.

“We have Mumbi’s passport. It is very much available and is being held by Immigration, and our new procedure agreed upon by all stakeholders involves Immigration retaining passports for all who test positive,” the ministry said.

“They are handed back to them when they turn negative.”

When we asked about the legality of withholding someone’s passport, the government had an answer.

“Those guidelines and protocols stipulating what happens are usually developed by various stakeholders, which include the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of State for Immigration and Registration of Persons as well as the Ministry of Transport,” MoH said.

“The way to quantify them can be through circulars, legislations, regulations, memos or letters. They are in existence.”

The Sunday Nation also reached out to Dr Patrick Amoth, the   director-general of health, but he declined to comment on anything about Mumbi’s case, adding that his boss, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, would respond soon.

But officials at the public health department at MoH explained further.

“Once (travellers) test positive for Covid-19, they are given a list of isolation facilities to select from and the Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) drops them off, after which they manage all the arrivals as per their isolation protocols,” they said.

“Test is free, transport is free but they pay the hotel costs.”

On November 30, the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council approved four isolation facilities, including Royal Tulip Hotel, on Chaka Road, with a bed/room capacity of 80 and charges $150 (Sh16,940).

Royal Tulip’s contact person is Mr Bhupendra Kumar, whose telephone number, according to the government, is 0738744744.

Another isolation facility is Corat Africa, in Karen, with a bed/room capacity of 106 and charges $50 (5,650).

Mr Emmanuel Waya is in charge there and can be contacted via 0720888800.

The third facility is RIO Hotel in South B, which charges $75 (Sh8,470) for single rooms, $120 (Sh13,550) for double sharing and $150 (Sh16,940) triple sharing.

Phoebe Wamuyu, whose contact is 0721300721, is the point person there.

Kenyatta University Teaching, Research and Referral Hospital is the country’s fourth isolation facility for arrivals who test positive for the coronavirus.

The person in charge is Dr Jeremy, who can be contacted via 0720744389. The facility charges $ 45 (Sh5,100) for a single room, $49 (Sh5,534) for double sharing, $56 (Sh6,325) for triple sharing and $ 63 (Sh7,116) for each of its 20 one-bedroom houses.

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