Two isolation centres have been opened in Busia to handle cases of COVID-19 at the Kenya-Uganda border.
They are located at the Port Health Department in Busia and Malaba One-Stop Border Post (OSBP).
The two border towns are vital crossing points for travellers from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo coming into the country by road.
Deputy Governor Moses Mulomi said each centre has six beds.
He said plans are underway to expand the two facilities. This, he said, will ensure they have adequate capacity to admit more suspected coronavirus patients.
Mulomi warned residents to observe health safety regulations to avert the spread of the virus.
“We are not taking chances in the wake of Kenya recording its first case on Friday,” he told reporters in Busia.
“Always wash hands with water and soap and use sanitisers. Also reduce the culture of shaking hands and public gatherings.”
He spoke as Port Health officials in Malaba and Busia border posts intensified screening of travellers entering the country.
A spot check by the Star on Sunday revealed that every vehicle user or pedestrian crossing into Kenya is required to undergo mandatory screening conducted by Port Health officials.
Officials are also keen to identify signs related to coronavirus which has so far claimed over 5,000 lives across the world, from the time it was first reported in Wuhan district in China.
Travellers from Uganda going to Eldoret, Nakuru, Nairobi, Mombasa and other interior regions in Kenya are required to receive a stamp either on the left or right hand as proof of clearance from the Port Health Department at the border.
Busia and Malaba border points are strategically located and the huge number of people crossing the two posts unregulated pose a major health risk to the country.
Busia is among 14 counties which the Health ministry has placed on high alert for coronavirus because it is a point of entry.
On Friday, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe announced that the country had registered its first coronavirus case. The victim is a 27-year-old woman who had travelled from the US via London. The government says she is in a stable condition at Kenyatta National Hospital.
The ministry has already rolled out a raft of measures to help avert the spread of the highly infectious coronavirus.
Among them is the suspension of visits to all prisons for the next 30 days.
Public gatherings, church crusades, games and inter-school events were also suspended.
Huge public meetings including the Building Bridges Initiative rally, which was to be held in Nakuru country on March 21, was cancelled.
Meanwhile, Busia on Friday unveiled two committees whose task will be to coordinate COVID-19 awareness campaigns to residents.
One committee will be co-chaired by Governor Sospeter Ojaamong and county commissioner Joseph Kanyiri. The other will be led by a team of medical doctors who will be deployed to the seven subcounties.
Edited by R.Wamochie
