Nairobi, Mombasa bear brunt of coronavirus

Nairobi and Mombasa continue to bear the brunt of Covid-19 disease, with the national tally rising to 384 on Wednesday.

Of the 10 new cases reported, nine came from the 89 samples taken in Mombasa and one from Nairobi’s 284 samples.

With 106 cases, Mombasa and its suburbs have become a source of concern for the national Covid-19 task force.

The rising infections in the island city is an indication that the virus has already spread to almost all estates.

The blatant disregard for the government’s directives on social distancing, wearing of masks and hand washing have been cited for the worrying situation.

Last week, the Health ministry said Nyali, Mvita and Kisauni sub-counties are the worst hit.

Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho said Mombasa is now grappling with community transmission. “This disease is real; it is serious. We are suffering and the numbers in Mombasa are worrying,” he said.

The government has been on the spot over the delay in launching targeted testing for the virus and the high-handedness of security forces enforcing curfew rules.

STIGMA

The Health ministry had announced that it would conduct serosurveillance to gauge how many people have been exposed to the virus using the sentinel sites that were established in the early 2000s for the monitoring of influenza.

“We will roll this out,” said Health Chief Administrative Secretary Mercy Mwangangi on Wednesday, without providing details about when this would happen.

She said the ministry had received “disturbing narrations” of stigma from patients who have recovered. Social scientists have been warning about stigma since the outbreak.

Dr Mary Amuyunzu-Nyamongo, a PhD in social anthropology, said the stigma came with the scathing condemnation of those who failed to follow self-quarantine directives.

Dr Amuyunzu-Nyamongo said this will discourage others from coming out to seek care, considering that studies are showing people with little or no symptoms account for more than 60 per cent of infections.

“The castigation of those who did not quarantine, labelling them as devils and wishing them death, will make the others hide when covert infection is becoming responsible for the virus,” she said.

She added that social media does not help either, even among the educated. “There are so many jokes and memes on social media that downplay the severity of the issue,” she said.

There have been 129 recoveries since Kenya recorded its first case on March 13.

The Coronavirus Tracker