The Mandera county government has introduced a special duty allowance for doctors and nurses screening people for Covid-19.
Governor Ali Roba said on Tuesday the allowance is meant to motivate health workers tasked with screening.
“The Mandera government shall implement a special allowance for doctors, nurses, clinical officers and other health workers assigned to the Covid-19 response as a motivation gesture,” he told the press in Mandera town.
Roba also ordered residents to pray at home and avoid public places to curb cross-border infections.
“Movement of people between Mandera town, Bula Hawa and Malka Suftu are restricted except for movement of food. The same rule applies in Elwak Somalia and Elwak Kenya, Damasa Kenya and Damasa Somalia," he said.
Roba urged Mandera residents to limit travel to and from other regions, especially Nairobi.
Weddings must be conducted through private nikkah. Chiefs and subcounty and ward administrators will enforce this requirement.
He also urged parents to confine their children within their plots or houses. Chiefs were ordered to enforce this directive.
The county is also planning to fumigate public places and government offices.
Roba further appealed to residents and social media users to avoid feeding members of the public with misleading information about the virus.
On Sunday, Roba urged the Ministry of Health and the presidential task force on Covid-19 to provide guidelines against which the regional governments will gauge on their preparedness in curbing the spread of the disease.
Roba, the chairman of the frontier counties development council, said counties have fragile health systems and the national government should lead in the war against the coronavirus.
Edited by A. Ndung'u
