Stop linking high profile names to Corona, says MoH
The Ministry of Health yesterday warned Kenyans against naming and focusing on high profile personalities said to have tested positive of coronavirus.
Public Health Director Dr Francis Kuria yesterday castigated those people who are pinpointing names and titles of the personalities on a day 120 individuals tested positive for the virus.
Kuria said in fighting stigma it is not important on how many bishops, judges or police have tested positive but it is how an individual plays their role in ensuring that the number of infections in the country have reduced.
The Public Health boss made the remarks even as it emerged yesterday half a dozen Members of Parliament (MPs) who had tested positive have not been quarantined.
“We have stressed now and again that individual responsibility is the most important strategy of reducing the number of infections. The numbers of parliamentarians who have turned positive is not going to help you not to test positive.
“Whether you are going to bring them together in a congregation is upon you. We have told you again and again the person standing next could be positive, including those MPs.
It is individual responsibility. Why don’t you avoid them!” he said baffling those who attended yesterday’s Covid-19 daily update at Afya House after a journalist asked whether the Ministry of Health knows how many MPs are infected.
Stigmatisation
He continued: “Let’s delink this issue of stigmatisation. Let’s not stop talking about parliamentarians, clergy, the judges, the police, let’s talk about Kenyans getting infected. To avoid getting infected avoid those gatherings whoever has called them. Let’s all focus on individual responsibility.”
Yesterday 120 people tested positive for the disease out of 2, 221 samples tested bringing the total number of Kenyans who tested positive of Covid-19 to 6, 190 from 167, 417 samples.
All the cases, except five, according to Health CAS Rashid Aman are Kenyans. 84 of them are males, while 36 are females. “The youngest is a six years old and the oldest is 83,” he said at Afya House.
Out of the 6,070 people who had been confirmed to be positive for Covid-19 by yesterday, 5,538 cases are local transmissions, accounting for 91 percent of the total case load.
The bulk of infections are recorded in Mombasa and Nairobi City Counties and these same counties have the highest attack rates of COVID-19, at 119.6 and 68.9 per 100,000 populations respectively, when compared to 12.8 per 100,000 for the whole country.
Giving an update on the Covid-19 situation in the country yesterday at Afya House Dr Aman said that out of the 41 counties that have reported cases Nairobi still leads with 3,031 followed by Mombasa with 1,445.
“Busia, which has become a high risk county due to cross- border truck drivers is third with 407 and the situation of Kajiado with 242 cases, is similar to that of Busia, due to the effect of Namanga Border Point while Kiambu then follows with 222 cases and most of the remaining 36 counties have cases below 100,” the CAS said.
