This archive report was first published on 3 July 2020.
Kenya Power has taken significant steps to protect its staff from Covid-19 by awarding a Sh100 million face masks tender to Kitui County Textile Centre.
According to the May tenders, the electricity distributor wants the textile centre to supply one million units of three-ply surgical face masks at Sh100 each.
The contract is a significant boost to the fortunes of Kicotec, which has been producing up to 30,000 masks per day since April.
The textile centre sells the protective gear to county governments, firms, NGOs, private hospitals, and parastatals.
Kenya Power's total spending on the fight against Covid-19 now stands at Sh146.2 million since March 19, with the firm also spending millions on hand sanitisers and digital thermometers.
With electricity provision being an essential service, Kenya Power's engineers, drivers, and other staff have to work despite the pandemic, highlighting the costs businesses are shouldering to protect their employees from the disease.
As of early June, three of Kenya Power's staff working from the Mombasa branch office had tested positive for coronavirus, joining other firms such as Kenya Ports Authority, KCB Group, DT Dobie, and Safaricom, which have also reported cases among their employees.
The country's Covid-19 case load has already crossed the 6,000 mark, with over 200 new infections being registered daily, a stark contrast to earlier Ministry of Health projections that such numbers would only be seen in August.
