• Joho and politician Suleiman Shahbal, said the booth can disinfect 12 people a minute.
• Prof Odalo said the solution, which is friendly to the human skin and body, contains antibacterial, anti-fungal and virucidal elements that attack any germs and the Coronavirus should it be found on one’s skin.
Mombasa county is increasingly using technology to fight the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Governor Hassan Joho on Monday launched a sanitizing spray booth where ferry users pass through and are sprayed with a disinfecting solution before being allowed to board the ferry.
The booth was donated jointly by the Suleiman Shahbal Foundation and the Hassan Joho Foundation.
The patrons of the two foundations, Joho and politician Suleiman Shahbal, said the booth can disinfect 12 people a minute.
“This is a prototype. We are piloting it. If successful, we will roll it out in other densely populated areas like Kongowea market,” Joho said.
Shahbal said they are planning to introduce bigger booths which can disinfect about 500 people in 10 minutes.
The booth, a first in Kenya, was built and tested in two days before it was installed at the Island side of the crossing channel on Sunday.
Evolution Energy and Chemical Solution was contracted to design and build the booths.
“We are at war. We must fight the coronavirus as a united front,” said Shahbal.
Prof. Josiah Odalo of Technical University of Mombasa, who was involved in the project, said the reagents used to make the disinfecting solution is safe.
“We used locally available material to make the solution which meets the World Health Organization standards,” said Odalo.
He said the solution, which is friendly to the human skin and body, contains antibacterial, anti-fungal and virucidal elements that attack any germs and the Coronavirus should it be found on one’s skin.
At the same time, Joho said the county is in the process of mounting Thermo-cameras at the crossing channel.
The thermo-cameras will have the ability to take the temperatures of those who are captured.
This information will then be used to identify those with unusually high temperatures, which is one of the symptoms of COVID-19.
County infrastructure executive Tawfiq Balala said apart from the thermo-cameras, the county will also install more turnstiles at the ferry crossing.
The turnstiles will help keep order, improve security, help keep social distance and also help maintain a three-metre distance enough for the thermo-camera to effectively capture ones image and temperature.