When Khadija (not her real name) landed in Kenya on March 24, she did not have the slightest idea of the ordeal that awaited her.
As the new coronavirus swept through the world, causing panic and anxiety, the shipping firm employee and 10 of her colleagues flew into Nairobi from Dubai, the UAE.
Getting to Nairobi was a logistical nightmare that eventually stretched into three flights as there was no direct one to Nairobi.
“We flew from Dubai to Muscat, Oman, on March 24, where we waited several hours and then caught a connecting flight to Doha, Qatar. From Doha, we flew to Nairobi the next day, she said.
On arrival in Nairobi, Khadija and her workmates were in for a rude shock.
“Authorities at the airport insisted that we be taken into quarantine pending testing for Covid-19. They told us to head to a number of city hotels for accommodation for the duration of the quarantine. However, the charges at the hotels they quoted were too expensive for most of us,” she said.
When the weary and broke passengers protested the exorbitant charges quoted in the list of hotels, the authorities backed down and offered to accommodate them at the Kenya Medical Training College.
This was however to become a cropper as the institution refused to take them in, forcing the authorities to take them to Moi Girls High School.
“We spent a tense and agonising 12 hours at the airport after our flight as the back and forth between the authorities and the institutions ensued. Finally, Moi Girls agreed to take us in and we were driven there,” said Khadija.
According to Khadija, the 129 guests at the school are forced to share dormitories and related facilities including bathrooms, toilets, handwashing and dining areas.
“At the school, we are sharing everything including bathrooms, toilets and hand washing areas. This places us at risk of getting infected should one of us have Covid-19,” she said.
The 28 year old said the group at the school consisted of Pakistanis, Syrians, Cameroonians and citizens of other nations, whose Covid-19 is yet to be fully known as they have only been tested once.
In a phone interview with kenyan Digest, she said medical officials had only tested the group once, after which they only check their temperature using thermal scanners like those used at airport terminals.
“We have only been tested once, which was on March 30,” she said.
Her worst fears were confirmed when three quarantined people were confirmed as Covid-19 positive.
She accuses the authorities of not moving with speed to isolate them from the general population.
“The authorities did not take them into isolation so that they could be treated. This left us at risk of getting infected as the sick individuals were left to live and move freely among us,” she said.
Ms Khadija said the sick individuals were finally moved to a facility on March 3.
She is afraid they could have infected other people at the quarantine site.
“To make a risky situation worse, we have not been tested since they were taken away. Instead, we are still mingling with each other freely, placing the uninfected ones at great risk of getting the disease from those that have not yet started showing symptoms,” she said.
Ms Khadija said the situation at the school was gloomy yet the authorities are focused on ensuring they each pay Sh28,000 before they are allowed to leave when their quarantine ends.
“There is a lady in charge of the site who is always insisting that anyone wishing to leave must first part with Sh28,000 before being cleared to exit,” she said.
Ms Khadija also accused the security of being harsh to the residents, and said they are no longer allowed to purchase foodstuffs from outside the school.
“Initially we were allowed to order for food outside the site but nowadays if we attempt to do so, the guards take our money and eat the food without giving us any explanation. There are three Syrians in here who are not eating anything yet no one is bothered about improving our living conditions,” she said.
The shipping clerk also claimed there was a woman with a baby at the school, who faced a similar risk of infection due to interacting with asymptomatic residents.
“We have been treated unfairly at the school. Reports that the quarantine has been extended by another two weeks have left us in despair,” she said.
Ms Khadija claimed the residents had been threatened with arrest if they continued being difficult and demanding for their rights.
“This afternoon, one of the administration officials told us our quarantine period would be extended if we continued being difficult and arguing with them over our rights and the quality of our stay,” she said.
She claimed there were three pregnant women at the site and that they had not received any specialised care or medical attention.
In a separate call to the Kenyan Digest , an expectant woman at another quarantine site claimed she was taken to Kenyatta National Hospital when she complained of being unwell but was forced to return after the referral facility refused to admit her.
“When I fell ill, I pleaded with the authorities to take me to a hospital for treatment. They told me there was a private hospital available but that the costs were too high so I declined,” said the woman identified only as Rosemary.
Rosemary said the administrators told her the ambulance was available at Sh 5,000 but she did not have the cash.
“A sympathetic medic offered to call a friend with an ambulance to take me to KNH. In the end, they decided to take me to KNH. I waited from 7 pm to midnight. That was when I was taken to hospital.”
At KNH, she was taken to the labour ward, where things soon turned ugly.
“The nurses refused to admit me unless I showed them documents to prove that I was Covid-19 negative,” she said.
Rosemary said the medics treated her as just a suspected Covid-19 case and did not address her great pain.
“All their questions were related to Covid-19. At no point did they show interest in my pregnancy or the pain I was feeling. In the end, I asked the authorities to return me to the quarantine site,” said the 25-year-old who is eight months pregnant.
“My family back home is distraught as they cannot afford the quarantine fees demanded by the authorities. I do not know when I will finally go home,” she said.
Calls to Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe to comment on the allegations by quarantined individuals went unanswered.
Further calls and messages to the Health Chief Administrative Secretary, Dr Mercy Mwangangi, also went unanswered.
The Kenyan Digest also tried in vain to call Dr Kadondi Kasera who is part of the coronavirus case management team at the ministry.
Kenya is currently battling the covid-19 pandemic with 172 confirmed cases, seven recoveries and six deaths.
On Monday, President Uhuru Kenyatta restricted movement into and out of the four counties where cases have been reported as part of many measures to reduce cases of local transmission.
The counties are Nairobi, which has the bulk of the cases, Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale.
