This archive report was first published on 9 May 2020.
On Friday, the woman escaped from Eastleigh and made her way to Kahawa West before using a boda boda to reach Nakuru town, where she boarded a vehicle to Kitale.
According to West Pokot County Health Executive Jackson Yaralima, the woman slept in the vehicle until Saturday morning, when she boarded another vehicle to Kapenguria.
It was there that she was intercepted by police at a roadblock after other passengers overheard her telling friends and her mother on the phone how she had managed to sneak out of Nairobi's Eastleigh before the lockdown.
"Other occupants of the vehicle heard the lady tell her friends on the phone how she escaped the Eastleigh lockdown and alerted the driver," Yaralima said.
The driver reported the matter to the police, who then called in health officials to check the occupants of the vehicle. The woman's samples have been taken and sent to Kitale Referral Hospital for COVID-19 testing.
The other passengers were directed to go into 14-day self-quarantine at their homes after giving out their contacts.
West Pokot County government has called for calm, saying the matter is being handled by health experts.
"I urge members of the public to be calm because we have taken charge. Nairobi is a risky area and we cannot assume anything," Yaralima said.
The vehicle has been fumigated, and residents are being urged to be on high alert.
