Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Wednesday his government would remain steadfast in the fight against COVID-19.
Kenyatta made the remarks in an interview aired by a host of local radio stations, urging Kenyans to take the disease seriously and act responsibly.
“Those that think this disease does not exist: for the safety of your family, and your loved ones, do that is necessary to protect them. Stay away. Do not put people at risk because you do not think it is serious,” said President Kenyatta.
The president also pledged that his administration would apprehend patients who escaped a quarantine facility in the capital, Nairobi.
The escapees went viral after a video surfaced online showing them jumping a fence to run away from the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) – which is being used as a temporary quarantine facility.
“For those that escaped, we will get them and they must finish their quarantine period. We know you and we will find you. You can’t be a burden on law abiding Kenyans if you were found violating curfew measures to tame COVID-19,” President Kenyatta said.
Kenya is one of 52 African countries that have reported cases of COVID-19. The East African country has recorded 296 cases and 14 deaths. Continentally, Africa has registered more than 23,000 cases and over 1,100 deaths.
President Kenyatta also promised more testing to better tackle the spread of COVID-19.
“We are expanding our testing capacities. We started testing 10, 20 people. Now, we have gone to as many as 1,000 people in 24 hours. And we are going to keep increasing these numbers,” he said.
Kenya is currently under a partial lockdown and nationwide night-time curfew imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19. The country has also shut down learning institutions and banned public gatherings as it tackled the disease.
