- Many county chiefs have declared they will subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine anyone from the six identified hotspot counties especially Nairobi.
- The national government had initially discouraged inter-county travels but had not banned them.
Even with President Uhuru's cessation of movement order on Monday, you will soon be an unwelcome visitor in your home county thanks to precautionary measures by counties to check Covid-19 community transmission.
Many county chiefs have declared they will subject a mandatory 14-day quarantine to anyone from the six identified hotspot counties, especially Nairobi, which has recorded they highest number of coronavirus cases.
Uhuru directed that there will be no movement into or out of Nairobi metropolitan area starting 7pm on Monday, and Kwale, Mombasa and Kilifi counties staring Wednesday. They have recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases.
The national government had initially discouraged inter-county travels but had not banned them.
Other hotspot counties are Kitui and Kajiado.
Murang’a Governor Mwangi was Iria was the first to issue the ban on travellers to his county.
The move is now getting popular with other county chiefs whose areas are yet to record Covid-19 cases.
At the weekend, Siaya Governor Cornel Rsanga and his Uasin Gishu counterpart Jackson Mandago declared that anyone visiting the two counties should be ready with Sh28,000 for a mandatory quarantine in designated centres in the county.
Mandago has also ordered against all elderly persons in Uasin Gishu leaving their homes during this period.
Health experts warn that the elderly are a high risk of succumbing to Covid-19 due to their strained immunity.
“Any Siaya resident who travels back home must be armed with at least Sh28,000 for upkeep while on mandatory quarantine,” Rasanga said.
“We know that you love your families and would want to join them but your coming can put their lives in danger,” the Siaya county boss added.
Mass movement is expected this week from urban to rural areas as Christians join their families for Easter holidays.
This would be made worse by an opinion poll findings indicating that considerable numbers of Kenyans believe taking their families upcountry during the pandemic will help protect them from contracting the virus.
The study by Infotrak conducted between March 30 and April 2 indicates that 35 per cent of Kenyans believe it is safe to take the family upcountry to protect them from Covid-19.
In Kakamega, Senator Cleophas Malala and Lugari MP Ayub Savula had called for a ban on travelers entering the county from Nairobi and other hotspot areas.
“As an elected leader representing a rural county, I want to appeal to the national government to ban people from travelling from Nairobi city to other parts of the country,” Malala said.
“This is based on the fact that rural counties have generally recorded very low Covid-19 cases, with the few reported cases having been traced back to persons who had travelled upcountry from Nairobi.”
National Assembly’s Health committee chairperson Sabina Chege had called for a lockdown of hotspot counties.
“For me the lockdown that we need is for regions such as Nairobi, Mombasa , Kwale and Kilifi, so that people stay within those counties don’t move to other regions,” the Murang’a MP said on phone.