•Kagwe said it was disappointing that Kenyans were not obeying the health measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus
Health CS Mutahi Kagwe on Saturday expressed his frustration after a man beat Nairobi lockdown to transport coronavirus to Homa Bay.
The 26-year-old left the capital with an empty coffin pretending he was ferrying a body upcountry for burial.
He had eight passengers said to be relatives of the deceased.
They were later quarantined in Homa Bay before tests revealed the driver was positive for Covid-19.
Kagwe said it was disappointing that Kenyans were not obeying the health measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus.
Whilw giving his daily updates on the virus, the CS expressed anger that Kenyans were not treating the outbreak with the required seriousness.
He said it was baffling that the group managed to cross the Nairobi border and got to Homa Bay county. They travelled in a private vehicle.
"...pretending that they were attending a funeral, fully equipped with an empty coffin," Kagwe said.
The CS said the Homa Bay surveillance team stopped the vehicle and found the coffin empty.
"They were immediately put into quarantine and today, I can confirm that the driver is positive," Kagwe said.
The driver is among the 16 new cases confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the total infections to 262.
It also saw Homa Bay joining the list of 12 counties with confirmed cases.
Kagwe said some Kenyans were also bribing authorities to get out of quarantine. He cited Mandera where he said such incidents have been reported.
Kagwe asked Kenyans to obey orders put in place to curb the spread of coronavirus.
"This is not a government disease. It is your disease and my disease," the CS said.
He announced two more deaths even as seven more people got discharged after recovering from the disease.
The total number of recoveries rose to 60 with now 12 deaths.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on April 6 imposed restrictions, directing a cessation of movement in and out of the Nairobi metropolitan area, Kilifi, Mombasa and Kwale counties for 21 days.
The regions have the biggest number of confirmed Covid-19 cases.
Nairobi has recorded 193 cases, translating to 73.66 per cent of the total cases in he country. Mombasa has 43 cases, Kilifi eight and Mandera six.
Kajiado, Kitui, Nakuru and Siaya all have two cases each while Uasin Gishu and Kwale have recorded a case each.
Edited by Peter Obuya