Mombasa mass testing on Covid-19 extends to Nyali Monday
Ongoing targeted mass testing for Covid-19 in Mombasa will on Monday be extended to Nyali sub-county where a spike in infections has been reported, Public Health Chief Officer Aisha Abubakar has said.
In an interview with People Daily, Abubakar said the testing will be stationed at the crowded Kongowea area which has recorded a growing number of infections.
“Our next target will be Nyali sub-County. Our officers will be stationed at Kongowea and we are calling upon members of the public to show up and get tested so that we can flatten the curve in our county,” the Chief Officer said.
She regretted that one of the key challenges that have entwined the mass testing especially at the community “is that there has been a tendency of unwillingness by residents to turn up for testing as we have seen in Mji wa Kale.”
As of Tuesday, she said the 5,451 people had been tested in all targeted populations including community, companies and truck drivers.
Out of the 5,451 tested, truck drivers account for 2,624 while companies including Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Ferry Services and others not listed are over 1000.
By last week Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) in Kilifi said it had tested over 8,200 samples from all the six counties in Coast region with Mombasa accounting for half of the samples.
However, according to Abubakar, the figure falls way below targets especially because of unwillingness by members of the community to turn up for testing.
