CS Kagwe: I have a son under quarantine, it's not a negative thing

In Summary

•He said there is no estate that hasn't been affected by Covid-19.

 

Director of Health Dr Patrick Amoth and Health CS Mutahi Kagwe at Afya House on Saturday, March 28, 2020 for the daily briefing on Covid-19.
Director of Health Dr Patrick Amoth and Health CS Mutahi Kagwe at Afya House on Saturday, March 28, 2020 for the daily briefing on Covid-19.
Image: DOUGLAS OKIDDY

Being put under quarantine is not a sentence, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe has said.

The CS said his son and niece are under quarantine.

"This is not a forced quarantine but a mandatory exercise as advised by the government. You are not being quarantined because you have committed a crime but to keep you safe. All you need to do is cooperate with the health and security officials,” he said.

 

 “I have a son and a niece who is in quarantine and there is no offense in taking preventive measures”.

Kagwe said he tested for Covid-19 and it turned negative.

All contacts of patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 will be put on mandatory quarantine.

Kagwe said they will be picked up and taken to quarantine centres.

He urged those picked to cooperate.

There are seven new cases of Covid-19.

They were all from Nairobi county, pushing the numbers to 28.

 

They are 4 Kenyans, 2 congolese and Chinese.

 
 
 

There were 81  samples analysed.

The total positive cases are now 38.

 

Four had a history of travel. One travelled to Mombasa.

Two came from contacts.

The first and third patients have tested negative.

A repeat test is scheduled in the next 48 hours.

 

During the Friday briefing, the CS said Nairobi is leading in the number of Covid-19 cases.

 

The other counties are Kilifi (6), Mombasa (2), Kwale (1) and Kajiado (1).

Several medical staff at the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi have been quarantined because they interacted with the 66-year-old man with Covid-19 who died.

The Star learnt the patient initially did not disclose to medics that he had travelled outside Kenya.

He presented himself to the hospital with mild fever and was prescribed medication to take at home.

"We do confirm that a number of our healthcare workers were exposed to a Covid-19 case by virtue of non-disclosure by the patient on their travel history," Dr Majid Twahir, an associate dean and the chief of staff at the hospital, told the Star

The patient, who passed away on Thursday afternoon, returned to the hospital after three days when his condition worsened.

This time, he detailed his travel to southern Africa and was immediately admitted and secluded in a special area.

Tests for coronavirus returned positive results.

Dr Twahir said the staff who interacted with him in the first visit be quarantined 14 days as a precaution. 

He said their exposure was classified into high or low risk and majority of them had low risk exposure.


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