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COVID-19: Kiambu County putting up measures to handle Indian variant

Saturday, May 8th, 2021 17:00 | By
Kiambu County Governor James Nyoro addresses the press at a past function. Photo/PD/Samuel Kariuki

Kiambu Governor James Nyoro has revealed part of his county's plan in the fight against COVID-19 after the Indian variant was reportedly detected in Kisumu.

Nyoro who was speaking when he received Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), sanitizers and masks from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) argued that Kiambu is now prepared to deal with any emergency cases should infections of the Indian variant spread across the country.

“We have heard of the confirmation of the deadly Indian variant in the country and we must take care lest this finds us off-guard. In a few days, we will open the Ruiru Hospital which has a bed capacity of 150,” he said.

While stressing on the importance of preparedness in the fight against COVID-19, the county boss revealed that prevalence in Kiambu has reduced drastically with only less than 10 patients being admitted at the Tigoni COVID-19 center in Limuru.

“The third wave came with a bang and we had more than 100 patients admitted at the special facility but the numbers have since reduced. We now have only one patient in ICU and nine in the normal wards. We expect to have none in the next few days,” the governor said.

On other preventive measures against the spread of Coronavirus, Nyoro announced the construction of six new markets in Gitaru, Rironi, Kigumo, Kiganjo, Gatukuyu and Soko Mjinga to supplement the existing ones asserting that the move will ease congestion thereby allowing easy social distancing.

He also took the opportunity to thank local stakeholders and the health sector of Kiambu County for the preparation and measures put in place to combat the pandemic.

“I thank GAIN for working with us on how to improve and operate our markets amid the pandemic.”

He supported the US government's proposal of waving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines. The governor argued that by doing so many countries will be able to produce the vaccines.

“The proposal is good because it will help third world countries access vaccines and speed up the probable end of the pandemic.”

Intellectual Property Rights, popularly known as Copyrights are international legal provisions that protect the rights of original innovators against illegal production of their products by other parties.

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