This archive report was first published on 19 June 2020.
June 15, 2020, marked a day of reckoning for a section of governors who attended the Council of Governors summit at State House. The summit, chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta, was held just a day before mass testing of State House staff revealed that at least 16 officials had tested positive for COVID-19.
It is believed that the employees who tested positive interacted with the governors and other visitors, sparking fears of a possible outbreak. In response, the National Multi-Agency Command Centre for Covid-19 directed the governors and 66 other senior government officials who visited State House to take COVID-19 tests.
"We started contact tracing on Monday and we are looking at a conservative figure of 66 people whom we suspect had direct or indirect contact with the four patients," a source told the Star newspaper.
Deputy President William Ruto also attended the summit, but it is unclear if he has taken the COVD-19 test or not. State House has maintained that President Uhuru Kenyatta and his family are safe from the virus.
As a precautionary measure, some governors have booked ICU beds in their respective hospitals in case they test positive for the virus. Credible reports indicate that three governors have booked ICU beds at two high-end hospitals in Nairobi.
