• The two, a woman, 22 and a student at Kenya Medical Training College in Kilifi and her brother 20, arrived in Mandera on April 1, from Nairobi aboard the Makka Bus.
• The duo travelled on March 31. Prior to that, they had been in Malindi and Kilifi
Two siblings have tested positive for coronavirus in Mandera, the first cases to be reported in the county.
The two, a woman, 22, and a student at Kenya Medical Training College in Kilifi and her brother, 20, arrived in Mandera on April 1 from Nairobi aboard the Makka Bus.
The duo travelled on March 31. Before that, they had been in Malindi and Kilifi.
They presented themselves in a private facility after showing flu-like symptoms and fever two days ago.
The facility alerted the county’s Covid-19 response team who took them to Mandera County Referral Hospital isolation facility.
Samples were collected and sent to Nairobi the same day. They were confirmed positive.
Governor Ali Roba said they had put the families of the two in mandatory quarantine together with two clinicians who attended to them.
Roba also urged all passengers who travelled aboard the Mekka Bus on Tuesday, March 31, to present themselves to the nearest health facility or to self-quarantine themselves for 21 days.
The patients were seated on seats numbers 13 and 14.
“The county Covid-19 team is tracing those who might have come in close contact with the two,” Roba said.
The governor is concerned about how the county will be able to send samples to Nairobi for testing with a travel ban and subsequent cancellation all flights by Kenya Airports Authority.
“Previously it was taking us about four days turnaround time for getting results back in Mandera,” he said.
He added, “We urge Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe to consider approving a Kemri sample collection centre in Mandera now that the flights have been banned.”
The county is also considered more ar risk since it has at least 600km borderline with Somali and Ethiopia.
The borders are porous and unmanned with regular uncontrolled cross-border interactions.
“We continue to face major challenges with the enforcement of social distancing especially in public transport and trucks ferrying quarry workers. These pose huge risks of spreading the virus and we request our partners to complement our efforts to reduce the spread of this pandemic,” Roba said.