Counties ready in case of outbreak, assures Oparanya
Counties are fully equipped to handle any suspected coronavirus cases, the governors said yesterday.
They said counties identified as high risk, including Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Busia, Migori, Kajiado, Wajir, and Garissa have emergency response teams on standby to monitor and investigate any suspected cases.
Nairobi is a major transit hub while Mombasa is the main port entry into the country. The others have been classified as high risk because they are main transit points at international borders.
Addressing the press in Nairobi yesterday, the Council of Governors chair Wycliffe Oparanya said all counties will have isolation centres as part of the country’s preparedness against the ailment.
He added so far 23 counties have established their respective centres to act in case of a suspected case while the rest are in the process.
“We wish to assure the country that there is no cause for alarm at the county level as stringent preventive measures have been put in place. We urge all members of public to remain vigilant as the risk is still high,” he said.
At the same time, this year’s Devolution Conference, which is scheduled to take place in Makueni next month might be postponed if threats created by Coronavirus escalates.
The acute viral respiratory disease, which has killed more than 4, 000 people and affected thousands others globally, has disrupted activities, especially travel and social interactions.
Oparanya said it is monitoring the situation and if the risks escalate, they might consider calling it off since experts have advised people to avoid crowd as part of risk management.
However, the governor said as of now, the plans to hold the annual events are at in top gear since there are no threats to warrant cancellation.
“We hope that the (coronavirus) threat will be gone. If it will be there (by the time we are holding the conference) we will make a decision on whether to proceed or not,” said the CoG boss.
On preparedness, the governors said the counties have set up emergency response committees in all Level Four and Five hospitals and are co-chaired by respective governors and county commissioners and comprise health, finance, planning, education and public work county ministers and county police bosses.
The devolved units have developed contingency plans and budgets, which comprise two per cent of their respective budgets to guide and implement the preparedness and response activities in view of the threat posed by the importation of the virus.
