Match your words with action on coronavirus

Kenya has now recorded four cases of coronavirus infection, an indication of the speed of its spread. Since the government declared a lockdown of several public activities, including learning and foreign travel, the public is grappling with internalising the measures to contain the spread of the deadly disease, Covid-19. Yet, despite high-profile public pronouncements, details of practical actions are sorely lacking. In this situation, every issue has to be laid out in clear and practical terms.

In the first place, some of the people taken in for testing and isolation at the Kenyatta National Hospital Infectious Diseases Unit have expressed disappointment over their handling. Tests and results take inordinately long and the concerned medical personnel seem unprepared for the tasks they’re charged with. The medics are not even properly kitted, which puts them at risk. Isolation wards lack the requisite kit and resources.

A crucial matter is the process and period for testing. How long does it take to get the results? Do the hospitals have adequate testing equipment? Are the medical personnel reasonably knowledgeable of the testing procedures?

Related to this is the isolation policy. Coronavirus is life-threatening. Anybody who contracts the virus is a risk not just to self, but also to many others. Which is why they have to be quarantined or forced into isolation. But what has transpired at KNH shows there is no clear policy on that. Individuals come in and go away at will. There is no rule to force them into isolation.

That is worrying. If the national referral hospital is handicapped on critical aspects of managing the crisis, what do we expect of the county and other low-tier hospitals and health facilities?

Although the government has called for restrictions on public activities such as funerals, weddings and worship, other entities, such as markets and public transport vehicles, continue to operate. In particular, little attention has been spared for the public markets across the country, which are hubs of trade and social interaction within the communities they serve.

This is not, in any way, a call for total lockdown as has happened in other territories, especially in Europe. But we are asking for extended measures to take care of all the unreached segments of society. Crucially, we are asking the authorities to match their words with action. When President Kenyatta and Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe make pronouncements on what the government is doing, especially equipping public hospitals to manage the coronavirus, that should be matched with action on the ground. The public needs confidence that whatever information their leaders give is backed with facts and reality.