Our systems will kill us before virus does

The Covid-19 epidemic has locked down a number of countries. European nations are at the forefront ensuring their citizens do not spread the infection to each other, with countries such as France requiring one to fill a form to explain why they need to leave their house.

The government of Kenya has consistently assured Kenyans things are under control and have put in place several measures to curb any further infections.

They have shut down learning institutions, advised those who can to work from home, and are even giving the business community some reprieve in these trying times. The Ministry of Health is on top of things, advising people on hygiene and protection measures.

In the meantime, Kenyans are finding comfort in statistics that illustrate how low the mortality rate for Covid-19 is. And seeing our great ally China get it under good control, one is encouraged that this isn’t such a deadly disease.

What will kill us isn’t the virus itself, but our nonfunctioning systems. For example, washing hands with soap and water is the most effective way to guard against the virus. But Kenya is a water-scarce country.

At least 80 per cent of its population does not have access to clean water. Slum residents buy water in jerricans each day to survive, while most urban centres experience water rationing. And we haven't even talked ab0ut villages and rural areas where people spend hours fetching water from faraway streams.
The most basic way of preventing this virus from spreading is out of reach for millions of Kenyans.

Social distancing is another key strategy. To this end, the government has asked employees who can work from home to do so.

But how about the millions in the informal sector who can't afford to not work? Casual workers who get paid daily? The informal sector is a hot policy topic - but we are clearly incapable of coming up with actual strategies that work to make this a viable sector.

When it comes to the health sector, Kenya has always leaned on curative measures than preventative ones.

Much of our public health sector is donor-funded by foreign countries – countries now overburdened by their own coronavirus concerns. Had we started with preventive measures such as screening all people coming into the country and effectively keeping track of them, we may have had an easier time allaying fears.

As the Health CS, Mutahi Kagwe assures us over and over that Kenya is prepared to handle any cases, it isn’t the Ministry of Health’s preparedness that we are worried about.

It is the lack of access to water. It is the congestion in our urban centres that makes social distancing redundant. It is their advice to Kenyans to work from home – the same Kenyans who can’t find employment in the first place, have just been laid off, or are temporary.
The virus shall not kill us. Our non-functioning systems will do so first.