This archive report was first published on 22 April 2020.
COVID-19 Safety Tips Ignored in Mt Kenya Region ¶
As the number of reported COVID-19 cases in Kenya approaches 300, residents in the Mt Kenya region are largely ignoring safety tips to curb the spread of the virus.
Spot checks by the Nation reveal that social distancing, sanitisation, and handwashing regulations are being breached at markets, matatu terminals, shops, and supermarkets.
At the Ngurubani and Kimbimbi markets in Kirinyaga County, traders and their customers were found without face masks, crowding and mingling freely.
"There is no such a disease in this area and there is no good reason we should not interact freely and shake hands with one another in markets," said resident Mary Wanjiku.
Mr Patrick Waweru, a boda-boda operator, expressed fears that people may be caught off guard due to their ignorance and carelessness.
"People, including my colleagues, don't care. They think the disease does not exist while the matter is of grave concern," he said.
Similar scenes were observed in Tharaka-Nithi County, where people were crowding in markets, tea-buying centres, and in police and public service vehicles.
Tharaka-Nithi County Commissioner Beverly Opwora said that to avoid crowding, she had asked police enforcing the curfew to be lenient with farmers found outside a few minutes after 7pm.
"Because we need farming to continue uninterrupted and we don't want farmers to scramble at the tea-buying centres, they will not be arrested even if they are found outside a few minutes after 7pm," she said.
Police officers arresting people found without masks in public places have also been bundling them into their vehicles, exposing them to more risk.
The Nation established that police and Tharaka South sub-county administrators have been demanding bribes from people arrested without face masks in Kibunga and Marimanti.
County Police Commander Charles Mbatu vowed to investigate.
Meru miraa and muguka vendors are at great risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19 as a majority of them do not wear masks and have no handwashing points or sanitisers.
Reporting by George Munene, Alex Njeru, Waweru Wairimu, Manase Otsialo, and Charles Wanyoro.
