West Pokot County has recorded its first Coronavirus case even as residents urge leaders to set up more measures to deal with the virus spread. West Pokot County Governor John Lonyangapuo confirmed the first case of Covid-19, noting that the patient hails from Ortum and has a travel history from Nairobi. “She was picked by the County surveillance team after an alarm was raised by members of the public. She had travelled from Nairobi on Saturday to Ortum,” he said.
He added that the patient has been taken to an Isolation and Treatment Centre in Kapenguria County Referral Hospital and contact tracing has been began. The Governor requested the public to cooperate as the health team seeks to contain a possible spread of the virus, and that the health team has started mass testing at Ortum. “The County government of West Pokot is prepared to handle the emerging cases but our primary focus is on prevention. I thank Wananchi for their alertness and I appeal to them to continue observing preventive measures issued by Ministry of Health. The invisible virus has now made in roads to our County and we all have an individual duty to protect ourselves by adhering to health protocols in place,” said Lonyangapuo.
However, West Pokot locals now want the County to be put under lockdown to prevent the surge of Coronavirus cases. “Since March the County had not recorded any case it’s unfortunate that someone traveled and sneaked the Coronavirus into our County,” said Peter Loketo. Loketo said the County should now begin mass testing in suspected areas and everyone entering the County should be now be tested.
Abraham Domongole castigated politicians for conducting public gatherings and putting people’s lives at risk. “We call upon politicians to desist from moving around the County doing politics. The County might experience an upsurge if the trend of people gathering at one place continues,” he said. West Pokot County is the 46th County in Kenya with a confirmed case. As of Thursday morning, Kenya had announced 19,125 cases.