Siaya opens new quarantine centre at Ugenya KMTC

Siaya County rapid response team for Covid-19 has established a new quarantine centre in Ugenya sub-county at Ugenya Kenya Medical Training College to decongest the Siaya KMTC centre which was the initial holding area for those on forced quarantine.

According to the County Commissioner Michael ole Tialal, the decision was necessary as the numbers of those requiring quarantine continue to grow with a recent exposure.

By Thursday, 64 people had been traced and placed in quarantine.

“Out of the 65, we have placed 19 of them at the new quarantine centre at Urenga in Ugenya to avoid overcrowding,” said Mr Tialal who co-chairs the county response team with Governor Cornel Rasanga.

At least 45 people who are believed to have come into close contact with the former KPA employee the late James Oyugi Onyango who is said to have succumbed to the virus on April 10 have been confined at the quarantine centre at the KMTC grounds in Siaya town.

Those at the KMTC in Siaya include 15 family members of the first Covid-19 case to be reported in the county, who was buried last Sunday.

Mr Ole Tialal noted that so far Siaya County has collected a total of 208 samples, which have been handed over to the Kemri lab in Kisumu for testing.

The samples, according to Mr Tialal include contacts of the Rome-based Catholic priest Richard Oduor and those of the KPA staff.

“For the primary and secondary contacts of the late Onyango, 12 samples were taken to Kemri labs between Tuesday and Wednesday. Another six samples will be taken from those who have been at the centre for seven days for test,” he told Nation on Thursday.

 Mr Tialal further disclosed that one of the sons of the late Onyango who had escaped forced quarantine when police rounded up the rest of the family on April 12 had surrendered himself to authorities.

He said the son accepted to be placed on quarantine hours after resisting arrest at their home in Kamalunga village.

The administrator warned residents of the village against accessing the home, saying doing so without having protective gears might be risky.

On Wednesday, a high-powered delegation of government officials led by the Ministry of Health’s acting Director General Dr Patrick Amoth and government spokesman Col (Rt) Cyrus Oguna visited the county to assess level of preparedness after Siaya reported the two Covid-19 positive cases.

The team which was joined by the county emergency response team also inspected the quarantine centre in Siaya and the county referral hospital’s isolation ward before visiting the late Onyango’s home in Ukwala.

The team handed assortment of personal protective equipment donation which included 400 pieces of N95 masks, 50 thermo guns, 500 white plastic apron, 30 packets of examination gloves, 3,000 surgical masks, 989 clothe masks, 500 hand sanitisers and 10 biomedical bags.