Looming Disaster: We Have 7,000 Kenyans In Quarantine And By May We’ll Be Having 10,000 Positive Coronavirus Cases-John Kiarie

By John Kiarie

IT’S JUST ABOUT TO GET REAL! (Thread)

We have 7,000 Kenyans in quarantine who arrived back between Wednesday and Sunday. In Dagoretti South Constituency we are hosting them at Lenana School and Kinyanjui Tech. How they got there and the chaos therein is a story for another day.

Kenya currently has an acute shortage of testing kits, so the country cannot adequately test how many of these new arrivals are currently positive! We currently do not know the exact number of positive cases in the country.

Today, CS Mutahi is only communicating what they have tested with the limited testing kits available. There are many, many untested, unreported positive cases out here.

How many of these new arrivals will test positive when we finally get kits in two weeks’ time or so, or whenever the kits arrive? Only God knows.

Moderate estimates are that by May, Kenya will be reporting in excess of 10,000 positive patients!

My two cents worth on what we must do immediately:

Kenya Government must forthwith communicate the gravity of the real situation without sugar coating anymore. Let Kenyans know how bad things are about to get. They will be better equipped to make personal decisions and put up with government decrees, measures and restrictions.

Kenya Government MUST now start preparing Isolation Centres around the country. This cannot be left to County Governments who are currently designating a few hospital beds in existing hospitals. Counties have no idea what is coming their way!

Kenya National Government must set up massive Isolation Centres around the country; over 4,000 bed isolation centres in Kasarani, Nyayo and City Stadiums in Nairobi. Over 3,000 bed Isolation centres in Mombasa and similar centres countrywide.

This CANNOT and MUST not be left to County governments. Again, even they don’t know yet just how hard this thing is about to hit the Kenya!

We must start mass producing masks immediately! We might not as a country be able to produce the high quality N95 masks (or whatever they are called) but masks are just about to become the most important commodity in this country.

Kenya Government MUST take stock of available ventilators in the country and then immediately order, buy, beg or steal more from wherever they must!.

GoK must take stock of all available Gas cylinders within the borders of Kenya; (maybe even ata zile ziko pale kwa garage za chomelea Dagoretti Corner). Then bring on board private manufacturers. There will have to be a way of manufacturing and refilling cylinders with oxygen.

If anyone can think of how one cylinder can serve more than one ventilator (without cross contamination) that guy will be Kenya’s life saving hero.

Beds and beddings need to be fabricated in the thousands. On this, our jua kali sector is up to the task, our artisans in Ngando along Ngong Road and others all over the country are more than skilled for this.

Health Caretakers’ apparel and protective gear need to be produced en masse. EPZ, KITUI, RIVATEX, NYS and wherever else we stitch school, police, KDF uniforms must kick into overdrive.

Community Health Volunteers are Kenya’s best bet in managing the chaos on the ground that is just about to ensue. GoK, please, please, be good to these people, in Dagoretti South we have over 400 of them in our database (and AMREFs).

They are in every constituency. Arm them with hand held thermometers for early detections and referrals for the relevant quick medical response. In GoK planning, please set aside monies for a stipend for the CHVs countrywide. They are about to become the frontline in this battle.

Health Committee in Parliament will have to take leadership on the legislative response to this disaster. A Kenya COVID 19 Bill is long overdue. Kenya Parliament MUST step up to the plate. Sorry, populist paycut stories won’t help here.

Stop thinking April and start strategising May going forward! Short term thinking got us here in the first place! We’ve missed critical Milestones and that is why we are here! This is an imported disease! If we just kept our borders closed we would not be in this mess!

Do we have food? GoK will have to feed its people. Either a cash disbursement starting with the most vulnerable or set up food ration stations in the neighbourhoods or mount a massive food distribution, KDF, NYS might come in handy for this. Or map the country and do all 3

NWSC MUST be forced to supply sufficient water to the estates! Ile kiboko ya Police wa curfew ipelekwe Kampala Road! This is not the time for those NWSC artificial shortage games! The Dams are full for God’s sake, how can taps in Rīruta be dry for over a month !

Unpiped areas, Athi Water Works MUST set up 100 free water stations per Nairobi Constituency where NWSC bowsers fill up communal tanks. More stations = less crowding = social distancing. Sanitation matters! Nairobi has NO CAPACITY to manage COVID 19 and Cholera at the same time!

GoK’s economy thinking MUST radically refocus from cushioning economic shocks to SURVIVAL! There will be no economy to recover from if we are totally decimated . I am a Arts Double Major, undergrad and post grad, #KimaniIchungwa help with the Double Maths.

GoK MUST come out and admit that the government CANNOT handle what is coming alone. No drought, Bomb blast, Terror attack, Westgate, or disaster we have known before is anywhere close to what is coming. We need a “Kenyans for Kenyans” to the power of 100 to even barely survive!

GoK MUST partner with Private sector to build Kenya’s biggest disaster response band wagon that any well wisher can jump on to and plug in their support.

My two cents worth and a penny for change.

John Kiarie is the MP for Dagoretti.