Governor Ali Roba’s 13th media briefing on measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, We have invited you to give you a status update number 13 of Covid-19 in our beloved Mandera County.
Following the lifting the lockdown after the initial surge of Covid 19, we are witnessing a second wave of this pandemic in our Country and Mandera County is no exemption. The more alarming thing currently is the increasing number of deaths, and in which no age group is spared. We are also seeing a worrying trend where patients undergoing management and are stable one minute suddenly degenerating in condition the next minute and succumbing to Covid-19.
In Mandera County we have now witnessed two (2) Covid-19 related deaths, and we are worried that Kenya has entered the projected peak phase of Covid-19 infections as projected by the National Ministry of Health and with increasing cases of death rates and infections.
Twelve days ago, we collected and sent 38 samples for Covid-19 analysis. The results have come back, and sadly six out of these samples tested positive for Covid-19. The six have been isolated and contact tracing is ongoing. While Mandera County Government is doing everything possible to mitigate and control the grave dangers of Covid-19, it should be noted that, this battle can only be won with the full and effective participation of the public in adhering to all health guidelines in the prevention of Covid-19. Simply put, it is now time to take greater individual responsibility more than ever before.
This disease is a living threat to humanity and we are in a phase where deaths are increasing, and from the look of things the worst is yet to come. More developed countries have lost and keep losing lives in hundreds of thousands. We have seen graves being dug by heavy earth moving machines in countries like Brazil to cope up with the huge number of dying people. Our young people and the energetic members of society should protect their parents by observing personal protection.
To our public, this is a war. It has just started getting nasty. We must equally equip ourselves with knowledge and never let down our guard by being complacent on basic prevention measures. We urge our public to observe the following: Frequent hand hygiene, wearing of masks and avoid crowds. Masjid leaders MUST ensure all congregations are observing guidelines. The preservation of life and safety of the congregations is mandatory. At no time should anybody without mask be allowed in masjids. People also need to come with their own prayer mats and allow social distancing as agreed by the scholars.
Public Service Vehicles must observe all rules guiding Covid-19 prevention. The health teams are hereby instructed to apply public health act to the letter and ground any vehicle not meeting safety criteria.
We have taken note of PSV vehicles flouting curfew rules and entering Mandera County way past curfew hours and again start their journey in the wee hours of morning. The County security team must deal firmly with this culprits. We appeal to our people to observe basic rules of Covid-19 prevention during burials which is one area of concern. All over Muslim world, Janaza prayers are done while also adhering to health guidelines to avoid transmission. In terms of Covid-19 preparedness, Mandera County Government has put up 306 beds across the county and equipped the beds for isolation of Covid-19 patients as directed by H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta. We also have a total of 15 ICU beds at Mandera County Referral Hospital and at Elwak Referral Hospital. In term of building testing capacity, I am delighted to announce that we will start testing Covid-19 in Mandera soon. Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) staff and testing machines are already on site and we are currently putting up necessary safety measures in place before we kick off testing process which is a critical component of Covid-19 containment. We seek refuge from Almighty Allah against this affliction and wish speedy recovery to those affected.
We wish to notify all private health facilities in Mandera County to immediately refer any patient with signs of Covid-19 for appropriate care in Mandera County health facilities whose staff have been trained on such care. The county government will hold responsible any private health facility that delays referral of patients with such symptoms in a timely manner.
Finally, the county ministry of health should convene an urgent meeting of all private health practitioners to demand that any patient who has exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 should be urgently referred to Mandera County Referral Hospital for proper management.
Thank You.
End of Statement