Panic as Kamusinga student tests positive for Covid-19
A banner at Webuye County Hospital's isolation center where a Form Four student from Friends School Kamusinga has been quarantined.
What you need to know:
- All students, teachers and the subordinate staff at the school to be tested and those who return positive results will be quarantined.
- Testing of the student's blood samples was done at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri).
Panic has gripped Friends School Kamusinga in Kimilili constituency, Bungoma County after one student tested positive for Covid-19.
The Form Four student returned a positive result after he was admitted at Kimilili Sub-county Hospital with Covid-like symptoms.
Confirming the incident, Bungoma County health and sanitation executive, Dr. Antony Walela, said testing of the student's blood samples was done at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) laboratories.
"The school management reported to us that the student had symptoms similar to those of a Covid-19 patient," said Dr. Walela.
The student is currently admitted at Webuye County Hospital isolation center where he is undergoing treatment.
Dr. Walela said the school has more than 400 students, mainly Form Four students who are preparing for the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination in March next year.
Fumigation
"We have arranged to have all students, teachers and the subordinate staff tested. Those who test positive will be quarantined at Webuye isolation centre," he said.
Dr. Walela said the testing will be carried out by the county government public health officers.
He also said all building in the school will be fumigated.
Meanwhile, Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Bungoma County executive secretary Ken Nganga has said there is no need to reopen schools with the number of infections still rising.
"We are against the idea of reopening schools when the global pandemic is spiking everyday. The government needs to control the disease first before we allow our teachers and students back to class. We don't want them to get infected," Nganga said.
Last week Bungoma Governor Wycliffe Wangamati announced that he had been given a clean bill of health to move around after he was reported to have contracted the virus alongside two members of his executive.
The country's ministry of health also announced that 118 inmates at Bungoma GK Prisons have contracted the virus. There are a total of 900 prisoners at the facility.
"They have been isolated in a different room and are undergoing medication. We hope they will soon recover. This is in a bid to stop them from spreading it to other inmates," said Dr. Walela.
