COVID-19 EFFECT

Kirinyaga County headquarters closed for 14 days due to virus surge

Waiguru orders for mass testing of staff from the affected departments.

In Summary

• Governor Anne Waiguru said that the executive will be monitoring the situation closely and will issue further guidelines and advice.

• Kakamega and Nandi counties had also closed its headquarters following reported cases of the virus among the workers.

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru addresses the press at the county headquarters on Thursday, March 19, 2020
PREPARED: Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru addresses the press at the county headquarters on Thursday, March 19, 2020
Image: ALICE WAITHERA

Kirinyaga County is the latest to be affected by the coronavirus, forcing the governing to paralyse its operations for fourteen days.

In a circular, Governor Anne Waiguru said that the county headquarters will be temporarily closed from Monday 1 for two weeks.

She said the deadly virus that has affected almost all the institutions across the country has not spared her country.

 
 
 
 

The governor has directed health CECM to ensure that mass testing of officers in the affected departments is carried out.

Waiguru directed county staffers affected to start working from home, adding that the County Executive Committee and Chief Officers will be required to develop plans that will ensure critical departmental functions are performed.

“Departments should contact virtual meetings and use electronic devices in the transmission of information and data as much as possible. All officers must be reachable on phone especially during working hours and respond timely to communications on their emails,” Waiguru said.

She also said that the executive will be monitoring the situation closely and will issue further guidelines and advice.

Waiguru said that it has become imperative to institute some urgent measures while avoiding ground critical operations.

Earlier on, Head of Public Service in the Executive Office of the President Joseph Kinyua had directed that public officers who are 58 years and above and those with pre-existing conditions to work from home.

Meanwhile, Murang’a County Department of Health has advised the County Government to scale down operations following an increase in Covid-19 cases within the country.

 
 

Murang’a County Secretary Patrick Mukuria said in a letter directed that all the staff offering non-essential services should proceed on a 12-days leave, starting on Monday 16, November 2020.

Mukuria said that all the county government offices will be fumigated, asking its staff to continue observing Covid-19 guidelines.

Kakamega and Nandi counties had also closed its headquarters following reported cases of the virus among the workers.

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