[VIDEO] 'Go home if you want a good life,' Eldoret cop pleads with residents

'Let us go home if you want a good life'.

These were the words of Eldoret OCS Mike Lekailel on Monday after the government asked residents to stay home to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

So far the country has recorded 15 cases and is actively tracing some 363 people who might have contracted the disease. The global deaths from the pandemic have hit 14,000.

“I am your OCS and I mind about your lives. Let us go home. If you want a good life, why wait for the virus to arrive, let us save the lives of your family members and your immediate person,” he said as he moved around the town's centre in his police Land Cruiser.

Among the places, the OCS-led team toured were Eldoret wholesale and the retail markets, the main bus park, and matatu stages along Eldoret-Webuye, Eldoret-Kapsabet, Eldoret-Iten and Eldoret-Ravine routes.

He was using a public address system to announce this to traders.

"Anybody found loitering aimlessly within the Central Business District will be arrested and locked in the cell,” he warned.

His announcement caught many traders and onlookers by surprise as others stood watching curiously oblivious of the urgency of the matter. 

"If you think the coronavirus will not infect you and you can continue to roam around bars, markets, jump into crowded matatus and generally live your life normally, you are wrong," Lekailel said.

"By doing this you are not only a risk to yourself but to your loved ones, friends and colleagues. You need to dramatically change your social habits. Stay at home, wash your hands regularly with soap and water and work remotely if you can."

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