@ppcheti
More than 400 health workers and hoteliers are targeted for free coronavirus testing in Lamu county starting this week.
Lamu county chief officer for Health Victor Tole said the two groups of workers were prioritised because their jobs involve frequent interaction with people.
Tole launched the testing programme on Tuesday at the King Fahad Hospital on Lamu island.
Lamu is among the few counties that have not recorded a single case of the coronavirus.
Tole said the first phase of the testing is already underway at the King Fahad hospital.
He said the second phase will be conducted at the Mpeketoni and Faza subcounty hospitals in Lamu West and Lamu East respectively in the next two weeks.
The chief officer urged all health and hotel workers in the region to turn up for testing.
Tole said no person in the two groups has a reason to miss out on the tests because it is free.
"We decided on free testing for health workers and hoteliers as they are always interacting a bit too closely with people in the course of their jobs. That means they are highly predisposed to Covid-19,” Tole said.
He said mass testing for the rest of the Lamu population will begin once they are done with the hoteliers and health workers.
Lamu elders and health activists have been calling for mass testing to ascertain the real situation of Covid-19 in the region. The 2019 census shows that the county has a population of 143,920 people.
(edited by o. owino)
