Health officials fumigate streets of Garissa

Health officials on Sunday night fumigated the streets of Garissa town as they stepped up measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The fumigation carried out using the Garissa fire trucks focused more on the Tana bridge road, the busiest in the town.

More than 30 buses plying the Nairobi-Garissa-Wajir-Mandera route use the road daily. It also has huge human traffic.

The fumigation was extended to the Garissa police station, the Garissa Referral Hospital and the town's open-air market.

County director of public health Salat Dagane said the threat of coronavirus was "real and is with us."

"The best thing to do now is to prevent it from spreading because treating the sick will be very expensive,” Dagane said.

He said the county has trained more than 200 health workers who are ready to handle cases. The county has set up an isolation ward with six ICU beds.

Dagane urged residents to adhere to the Ministry of Health guidelines to avoid contracting and spreading the disease.

“Please wash your hands regularly, stop shaking hands, keep social distance and above all stay at home unless you have something very important to do out there,” he said.

It is the only way you can protect yourself from this pandemic, he added.

He asked the residents to immediately report any suspected cases to authorities at the referral hospital. Hotline numbers have been provided.

Deputy Health director Ibrahim Mohamed said all the six subcounties had activated their response teams.

Mohamed asked parents to ensure their children remain at home.

Edited by Peter Obuya