Public health officials in Murang’a county are tracing close contacts of a 22-year-old man who tested positive for Covid-19.
The man is said to have been applying for a job as a waiter in one of the local hotels when his sample was taken.
He also hawked ready coffee in Murang’a town.
The officers took him from his rental house in Murang’a town on Thursday night to Kenyatta University Referral Hospital for treatment.
Health CEC Joseph Mbai said the man exhibited no symptoms when he has picked.
“He did not have high temperatures or cough. That is why we are asking people to be very careful because about 85 per cent of patients do not show symptoms,” Mbai said, emphasising the need for locals to wear masks and observe social distancing.
Five close contacts have been identified and are being counselled before being taken to quarantine where they will be tested and observed.
He said Murang’a people have been living too casually and urged them to stop greetings that involve physical contact while controlling their interactions with others.
The victim’s house and the entire four-storey building were fumigated, with Mbai noting that the entire town will also be sanitised.
“Tractors are on the way coming and our officers are ready and the chemicals prepared,” he said.
He urged residents not to panic when the fumigation starts while those living in the building were asked not to move.
“We will work with them, test them and establish whether they are in danger. Moving to a new house is not a solution because they may also be contaminated,” he added, noting that almost all counties have been affected.
He asked residents to find ways of adapting and living with the virus which he said is the only way to win against it.
Mbai said the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50 million people in 1918 was only eradicated through face masks that stopped new infections.
“People should stop joking. A mask can save someone from the virus if everyone wears the mask but if you wear a mask and others don’t, it can infect you through the eyes,” he said.
He warned that traders who will be found selling their wares without face masks, soap and water will have their premises closed.
Edited by R.Wamochie
