•In Africa, there are 130 cases with two fatalities reported. WHO declared the virus a pandemic on Wednesday.
•The drop in business may be a sign of worse things to come as coronavirus spreads across the world and affects Kenya.
Image: MAUREEN KINYANJUI
The coronavirus scare has hit Kenya hard, with many businesses hurting and likely to close down, while sporting and other events are being cancelled.
Although no case has been reported here, the government on Thursday asked counties to conduct simulation drills on Friday. A drill will take place at Mbagathi Hospital on Sunday.
Currently, hawkers in many urban centres are already feeling the pain because they cannot easily access goods from China.
“We are no longer travelling to meet our suppliers, some of them from Wuhan, because the whole region is under lockdown,” Susan Muchiri told the Star. She owns an electronics shop in Nairobi’s River Road area.
Muchiri says if the China supply shutdown continues, the prices of many commodities will double.
“For instance, you can expect an electric bulb that used to cost Sh40 to soon cost Sh150. Many of us could also close shop.”
Many of the traders import their goods and raw material from China, where factories are being shut.
Kenya depends heavily on China for most consumer goods, but fewer traders are risking travelling to China, the origin and epicentre of the outbreak.
The virus that emerged from Wuhan, the sprawling capital city of Hubei province, has so far killed more than 4,600 people globally and infected 126,000. About 68,000 have recovered so far.
There will also be a decline in demand for the primary products that Kenya exports, such as avocados, to China, which means farmers in the village will also feel the pinch.
Kenya finally secured a huge avocado deal with China but now that is stalled, like much trade.
Tourism has also been hurt as international travellers stay home, wounding the economy.
“The problem is that even the number of European travellers has declined,” said James Opiyo, a tour operator with Optimal Safaris, which operates in the Mara Triangle.
Kenya could also face a shortage of medicines because most generic drugs are imported from India, which has restricted the export of certain medicines.
Drugs makers in Kenya also rely on raw material from China.
“Coronavirus is a very fluid target. There is a lot of dynamism in how to handle it because it is changing the situation globally every day,” Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said on Thursday.
“We have not had a case internally but we are making all preparations to ensure that if indeed we do we are ready for it.”
The CS said the simulation will be a test for a real situation and what to do when that happens as part of government preparations.
He appealed to Kenyans to practice simple and basic procedures such as frequent and thorough hand washing, not touching one's mouth, nose or eyes, covering the mouth when coughing and avoiding people who appear to be ill.
So far, all counties have received 5,000 coronavirus protective kits with 14 high-risk counties also having received 10,000 kits from the national government.
So far, 23 counties have set up emergency isolation centres at levels 4 and 5 health facilities. They had until March 15 to do so.
On Thursday, the Mombasa county government warned aliens and anyone else posing as county health officers moving around homes, saying they have a mandate to carry out door-to-door spraying.
They could be thieves or extortionists.
Speaking at Makadara Grounds marking the World Kidney Day, Public Health chief officer Aisha Abubakar said the county has not sent its officers to spray or give medication to prevent or cure the virus, which has no cure.
She said many people will continue to take advantage and perhaps extract money from innocent Kenyans and continue to spread rumours about the disease.
“We are telling citizens to be very vigilant, everybody will take advantage of this disease as some will say they are health officers and are giving medication for one to buy at a small fee,” she said.