Tana residents panic as Covid-19 cases spike
For the past year, Tana River County residents have been living in complete disregard of Covid-19 protocols.
Funeral and wedding gatherings and other events have been taking place as usual, while in the streets, social distancing and mask wearing remain foreign.
Their excuse has been that the county is far away from the hotspots of the pandemic and the hot weather could not allow Covid-19 to thrive.
But for the last week, Covid-19 cases have spiked, and it is no doubt making a bold statement, as it ravages villages in remote areas, sending young and old to isolation.
Ngao village in the Tana Delta, popularly known as ‘London’, is feeling the bite, with more than seven people now in isolation.
As of Monday, five more people tested positive for the respiratory disease, bringing the total active cases to 15 and the number of deaths for the past three months to five.
Ngao residents are gripped by fear, and now the parties that have been the norm at their famed “Shakabay”, next to Lake Shakababo, have ended, as families now stay at homes to keep safe.
“My mother suddenly developed the flu, followed by a headache and a fever. We had to take her to Ngao hospital, where she tested negative to ailments the doctors suspected. They then did a Covid-19 test, which came back positive,” said Annah Bonaya.
This was shortly after the mother’s friend was also rushed to the isolation ward at Hola Level Four Hospital with the same diagnosis.
Annah’s mother is asthmatic and may need extra care and in the worst circumstances oxygen support.
For Annah, she has been put under home care, restrictions she has to observe as she follows her mother’s well-being by phone.
"I can't even walk outside freely as the stigma is starting to take effect.
Residents in Hola Town, Tana River County mask up as they go about their business in the wake of the Covid-19 spike.
Here, people are afraid and suspicious of one another," she said.
Tana Delta streets are now filled with people wearing masks, social distancing at will as the numbers at various gatherings and social places drop drastically.
Residents are witnessing friends being whisked away in ambulances to the referral hospital after testing positive for Covid-19.
The reality is fast sinking in as they prepare for the burial of the first known victim of Covid-19 this weekend.
To sanitise or not to sanitise is no longer an option as it was before, and everyone is afraid.
In Galole constituency, Mwanatumu Hussein is shaken as his father and uncle are fighting for their lives at the Hola Level Four isolation centre.
This is barely three days after her brother, 13, narrowly escaped the jaws of death as a result of Covid-19 at the same facility.
Though under home-based care, his brother’s condition is not as good, as the virus left him with its after-effects, which may make him miss his end-of-term exams.
"I still can't believe it. He did not wear his mask for a day, and the next thing was he tested positive to Covid-19. I don't even know how his classmates are going to treat him on his return," she says.
The biggest worry, however, rests in the lack of adequate personal protective equipment for health workers and poor contact-tracing efforts.
Sources in Hola Level Four Hospital said there are no vehicles to transport families and friends of patients who have tested positive for Covid-19.
Also, testing kits delivered by Kemsa to Hola Referral Hospital have expired, forcing it to ferry samples for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to Kilifi.
Health workers, on the other hand, have decried lack of personal protective gear, and are contemplating a go-slow.
“I have no motivation even as I put all my efforts into this. I’m putting my life at risk but the department executive is not doing its part,” said a medical worker at a Covid-19 centre.
There are not enough oxygen tanks either, with only six of nine tanks currently filled and in use.
The isolation ward is yet to be fully fitted with a fixed oxygen tank, and as a result, the hospital uses portable tanks.
Health Executive Javan Bonaya acknowledged that cases are likely to rise as a result of residents’ ignorance.
But he said the administration is planning a campaign on local radio stations and public address tours to sensitise locals on the situation and the need to adhere to Covid-19 regulations.
“The number of cases per day is rising fast, and it is clear that this problem is here with us, and people should start behaving,” he noted.
Mr Bonaya also said the county is expecting more PPEs this week, as it consults on scaling down some services at the hospital.
“We have it all under control,” he said of the lack of PPES. “We will also soon resolve the challenges raised by the health workers.” BY DAILY NATION
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