Kwale County residents have been urged to support public health officers undertaking sanitisation campaigns on the coronavirus pandemic.
The county’s public health department has also stepped up cleanliness and hygiene in public spaces like markets, shopping centres and matatu stages as necessary precautions against the deadly disease.
Deputy Governor Fatuma Achani Wednesday asked residents to raise public hygiene standards and follow health guidelines and measures aimed at containing the infectious disease.
Achani said the county has launched coronavirus sensitisation and public awareness campaigns on improved hygiene at the grassroots to enhance preparedness in the region.
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She said community health workers and volunteers under ward administrators are urging the people to deal with the situation by stepping up efforts to keep their surroundings clean.
“Taking cleanliness and public hygiene to the next level is actually the first line of defense against infections,” she said when she toured the Kwale open-air market.
On her various stops, while accompanied by the county health executive Francis Gwama, Achani stressed the importance of keeping personal hygiene to protect self and the community from Covid-19.
She said county health staff are going round establishing hand washing points with soap and sanitizers at strategic places in towns to safeguard public health amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“In the light of the global coronavirus outbreak, we have no choice but to follow health instructions aimed at slowing down infections,” she said adding that Kwale has not reported any case of the disease also known as Covid-19.
So far, the country has confirmed seven cases of infection as the world contends with the fast spread of the Covid-19.
She said the county government has set aside isolation wards in health facilities spread in Matuga, Msambweni, Kinango, and Lunga Lunga sub-counties for the management of any case that may be reported.
“As of now, we have isolation wards with eight beds in Lunga-Lunga, six beds in Matuga, four beds in Mbsambweni and two beds in Kinango” she said adding that residents can contact the county health department through mobile number 0768078070 for help.
Symptoms on the novel coronavirus include coughing, sneezing, high fever, breathing difficulties and general body pains.
