• "We are working very well together... we work in unison," Kagwe said on Wednesday.
Image: MAURICE ALAL
Health CS Mutahi Kagwe has dismissed reports that the multi-agency team handling coronavirus is not united.
"There is no division in the arms of government. Our leader who is guiding us is the President," Kagwe said on Wednesday.
He added that all the agencies are working in unison and in a manner that has not worked in a long time.
The CS spoke at Afya House where he was briefing the nation on coronavirus.
During the briefing, the CS said 22 more patients tested positive out of 300 who were tested in the last 24 hours.
The Senate had on Tuesday asked Interior CS Fred Matiangi and Kagwe to clarify on the irregular rounding-up of parliamentary service staff.
During a Tuesday session, Senate Speaker Ken Lusaka said the two cabinet secretaries have two days to respond to the matter.
The senate had been on a two week recess after the COVID-19 case was reported in the country.
Senator Aaron Cheruiyot rose on a point of order and brought to the attention of the House the existence of a parallel response team to the Covid-19 known as the 'Multi-agency' based at the Office of the President.
The senator said the team is rounding up people who travelled in the last one month and dumping them at various isolation centres.
As a result the teams have ended up mixing people who have been in the centres for four weeks and those who arrived four days ago.
"The Senator said he had received a distress call from staff of the Parliamentary service who had travelled to the United Kingdom on official business and returned to Kenya on March 8," the Lusaka said in a letter to the two CSs.
Senator Cheruiyot indicated that the team had picked the staff from his residence and forcefully taken him to a quarantine centre in Kasarani despite the fact that he had duly complied with the Ministry of Health's directive requiring self-quarantine for 14 days.
Cheruiyot said the parliamentary researcher who was with his committee in the UK was picked on Monday together with wife and a four-month-old child.
He said so far no tests have been done as the police have no capacity to do this.
He said the Director of Public Health Dr Patrick Amoth had confirmed to him that he does not know who is in charge of that team.
"The Senator made attempts to reach the ministry of Health which stated it is not aware of such a team," the Senate Clerk said.
He said a number of Senators rose to speak on the matter and similarly expressed their concerns.
In the end, the Speaker observed that this was a grave matter that was of great concern to the senate.
"The Speaker directed that the Ministry of Interior and Coordination and the Ministry of Health present a report to the Senate within two days responding to the matter and clarifying the teams that are mandated to handle the Covid-19 matter," read part of the letter by the Clerk.
Lusaka said the response, to be filed by April 2, should reach his office through the Clerk.