Mandera in race to find Covid-19 pair contacts
Mandera Governor Ali Roba holds a press briefing on March 26, 2020. The county is looking for those who came into contact with two patients infected with coronavirus. PHOTO | MANASE OTSIALO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Health authorities are exploring the possibility that the two may have contracted the virus while in Kilifi.
- On the morning of April 1, they two arrived in Wajir Town, where they had breakfast at a hotel before proceeding to Mandera.
A team of health officials has been dispatched to trace people who may have come into contact with the two individuals who tested positive for coronavirus in Mandera County.
The two — a man and a woman — are in isolation at Mandera Referral Hospital. They arrived in Mandera on April 1, having travelled by bus from Nairobi the previous day.
Mandera Governor Ali Roba said the two landed in Kilifi from Europe before proceeding to Mandera.
Health authorities are exploring the possibility that the two may have contracted the virus while in Kilifi.
However, health officials have not revealed their travel history from Europe but disclosed some of their movements in Kenya.
According to the government, the pair boarded the bus in Eastleigh, Nairobi, which passed through Thika, Mwingi, Garissa, Wajir and El Wak in Mandera County.
CONTACT TRACING
Four days after their arrival in Kenya, the two started exhibiting Covid-19 symptoms and a team was dispatched to pick them from a private hospital.
“Around 11.03 on April 5, a call came through our county hotline from a private hospital indicating the presence of two people with flu-like symptoms. Our Covid-19 response team picked up the two and isolated them at Mandera County Referral Hospital isolation centre,” Mr Roba said.
The entire family contacts of two clinicians who attended to the patients have been quarantined.
In Wajir - where the two made a stopover - authorities have stepped up its efforts to trace their movements.
There are reports that the pair spent the night in Leheley, just a few kilometres from Wajir Town, after they were caught up in the curfew hours.
Mandera Health executive Ismail Issack said a team has been sent to Leheley to establish if the all the bus passengers spent their night in the vehicle or hotels.
On the morning of April 1, they two arrived in Wajir Town, where they had breakfast at a hotel before proceeding to Mandera.
TESTING CENTRE
Usually, vehicles heading to Mandera from Nairobi make stopovers in Wajir to pick more passengers or give the travellers a break.
Governor Roba said the county Covid-19 team is tracing anyone who may have had contact with the two.
He added that the first 14 people identified are in quarantine. “We are scrutinising the passenger manifest. We urge those who were on the Makka Bus on March 31 to present themselves to the nearest hospital or self-quarantine for 21 days,” the governor said.
He urged the Health ministry to improve efficiency by setting up a testing centre in the county.
