The number of those arrested and placed under forced quarantine in Garissa has risen to 46 after 15 more were nabbed on Wednesday.
Northeastern region commissioner Nicodemus Ndalana said a Nissan matatu from the Al-Wahim express shuttle was impounded at the Garissa – Mombasa junction with eight passengers who were en-route to different parts of Central and Rift Valley regions.
The driver said they were travelling from Lamu but Ndalana said it was not clear whether the passengers were from Lamu or may have come from either of the three counties of Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale that are under containment.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on April 6 ordered a cessation of movement in and out of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale counties to contain the spread of coronavirus.
The four are seen as the hotspots.
Ndalana said another seven passengers were in two private cars suspected to have travelled from Nairobi to Garissa. They were arrested at the Tana Bridge.
The administrator said he was consulting with the National Transport and Safety Authority to suspend licenses of all PSV vehicles defying government guidelines.
Ndalana said those using unorthodox means to enter Garissa or any of the other two counties of Wajir and Mandera will fail.
He said security officers were on high alert.
Authorities say many people are using tricks to sneak out of the contained counties to their rural homes.
On Tuesday, an Emirates bus was impounded at the Tana Bridge screening point with 27 passengers said to have been picked from Mwingi after they were dropped there by saloon cars from Nairobi.
On Sunday around midnight, four people in a salon car were arrested at the same point. They are being quarantined at the Garissa High School at their own costs.
Edited by P. O
