Teachers derailing Covid-19 war efforts warned
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i. He says the government is liaising with regional governments to distribute safety kits to battle coronavirus. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Several MPs and other leaders have donated soap, water tanks and sanitisers to shopping centres and markets.
- Dr Matiang’i said national government will distribute protective kits such as face masks to counties.
Teachers disobeying Ministry of Health guidelines on preventing the spread of coronavirus will be arrested, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has said.
Dr Matiang’i said the government has received reports of children being gathered at schools for lessons.
Last month, the government shut learning institutions after the country reported its first Covid-19 case. “Our people are hardworking but operations around the world have stopped for now,” Dr Matiang’i said during an interview on Egesa FM Tuesday night.
“Teachers should be worried about the pandemic. Where will you take the bodies of the children if they get the disease?”
The CS chairs the National Co-ordination Committee on Coronavirus. The ministers in the team are Mutahi Kagwe (Health), Ukur Yatani (National Treasury), Monica Juma (Defence), Peter Munya (Agriculture) and Joseph Mucheru (ICT and Youth Affairs).
Other members are Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua, Attorney-General Kihara Kariuki, Chief of Defence Forces Samson Mwathethe and National Intelligence Service Director-General Philip Kameru.
“It is the responsibility of the government to ensure our people are protected. Take precautionary measures and the simple instructions we keep singing to you. Let me be frank, even children of government officials are in quarantine. Some are in the Cabinet. It does not exempt anybody. Nobody should break the rules. We know it is painful but it is for the best interest of our people.”
TEAM EFFORT
The CS cautioned Kenyans against social gatherings, such as funerals, through which transmission rates are high.
He said to defeat the pandemic, everyone should participate in propagating and adhering to safety tips.
He thanked those lending a hand in the war against the deadly virus. Several MPs and other leaders have donated soap, water tanks and sanitisers to shopping centres and markets.
“I thank them for this gesture,” the CS said. Dr Matiang’i, however, added that concerns have been raised on how these materials are distributed.
“People crowd at a place to receive the commodities, flouting the social distancing rule. I urge leaders to come up with plans that will ensure the distribution is orderly,” he said.
Dr Matiang’i said national government will distribute protective kits such as face masks to counties.
