State scrambles to keep Chinese plane passengers in check

The government is facing difficulties in implementing the court order directing that all the 239 passengers who were aboard the China Southern Airline be traced and quarantined in a military facility.

The Nation has learnt that several passengers who were on transit left for their countries of destination while the others are in their homes, with the authorities trusting that they will quarantine themselves for two weeks.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said that Kenya is establishing an isolation unit for the Covid-19 outbreak to deal with suspected cases because the country lacks sufficient capacity to quarantine all the 239 passengers.

MONITORED

“There is a limit to how many people we can put in one place,” he said.

Mr Kagwe said that, even before the directive was issued, the Ministry had put in place adequate measures to ensure that every individual was monitored.

“The Health ministry in collaboration with ministries of immigration and public works had individually monitored them and we know where they are and have their numbers so we would know if there was a problem,” he said.

The CS said that, although he had not seen the order, it would not take “a court order to secure Kenyans”.

“If we have 239 today and another bunch tomorrow, we will act even before court orders are issued,” he said.

Mr Kagwe said that travellers are expected to self-quarantine, which means that they stay indoors and have discipline by ensuring they do not interact with the masses for 14 days.

The term “quarantine” means restricting the movements of individuals who have been, or might have been, exposed to a contagious disease. Although it is often used interchangeably with “isolation,” the latter means confining individuals known to have a contagious infection, usually as part of medical treatment. Quarantine and isolation can be voluntary or involuntary.

FALSE INFORMATION

Last week, the direct flight from China to Nairobi was almost made to turn back after officials at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) refused to clear passengers from Guangzhou as tensions over the coronavirus infection continue to rise.
Meanwhile a leaked audio from the Ministry of Health on Monday caused panic among Kenyans.

The audio, which was part of a simulation exercise by the ministry’s employees in the event of a possible outbreak of the coronavirus, elicited fear among Kenyans.

“The audio being shared was part of a simulation exercise during the crisis communication training on Covid-19, in Machakos County over the weekend,” the ministry said in a statement
It reiterated that there was no confirmed case of Covid-19 in the country.

The slip up by the Health ministry comes a day after Mr Kagwe called on Kenyans to desist from sharing false information on social media.

CAUSED PANIC

“The danger of spreading false information is that, if indeed it is true and we want to take protective measures, nobody is going to believe us,” he said.

This is the latest addition to a string of false alarms created surrounding the alleged confirmation of coronavirus cases in the country.

Last week, the Kenyatta National Hospital had to reassure the public that no confirmed cases had been reported after messages on social media caused a panic.

The KNH said information circulated on social media regarding a confirmed case of the infection was false and that the public should ignore it.

The Health ministry told the public that there was no suspected or confirmed case of the virus in Kenya currently.