Kajiado County, which was identified by the government as one of COVID-19 high-risk counties, produced the first patient in the country on Friday.
This happened as the county’s Health CECM Esther Somoire sent out a message to all residents of Kajiado not to panic as the county is “well” prepared for any eventualities.
“We have trained all our first-line medical staff that includes doctors, clinical officers, and nurses on how to handle any eventualities,” the county minister said.
Somoire also said the Kajiado North sub-county being the most populated region in Kajiado has also been taken into consideration after her department established isolation center for people affected with coronavirus.
“We have turned Olekasasi health facility into an isolation center in Kajiado North sub-county and transferred all other health services there to Ongata Rongai health centre,” Somoire said on the telephone on Friday night.
She said communities across the county have been sensitised on coronavirus attack.
She said the county government health department is working closely with Afya House in tracing first-line contacts of the patient identified with coronavirus on Friday.
The woman who was identified as having the virus is said to be living along Simba Drive in Ongata Rongai and the area is said to be densely populated, according to Somoire.
On March 4, the government identified 14 counties as high-risk areas where residents face chances of being infected with the coronavirus.
Consequently, the government said it would enhance high surveillance in the identified areas with more trained health personnel being posted there.
Counties identified as a high risk included Kisumu, Busia, Migori, Kajiado, Wajir, and Garissa for their proximity to the international borders.
Nairobi was also included in the high-risk areas due to it being the region’s biggest commercial hub and hosting the biggest port of entry at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
The Ministry of Health’s Disease Surveillance and Epidemic Response head Dr Daniel Lang’at had said Mombasa and Kilifi were identified because they are seaport counties.
“We have also identified Nakuru, Machakos and Uasin Gishu because they are transit counties,” he said at UNEP headquarters during a news cafe hosted by UNICEF and WHO.
Kiambu and Kakamega counties were also been looped into the high-risk areas because of the proximity to Nairobi and Busia respectively.
