Kenya hunts escapees from coronavirus quarantine centre
Patients who escaped from a coronavirus quarantine centre in Kenya would be hunted down and sent back to the centre, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.
“We know you and we will find you,” he said, adding that “the escapees were putting other lives at risk.”
His warning follows a viral video that showed several people scaling a wall to flee a quarantine centre in the capital, Nairobi, on Tuesday.
According to reports, the patients had a chance to escape when it started raining and the guards at post took cover from the rain.
There were earlier reports from those in quarantine about the poor conditions the patients have had to endure at the centre.
The complaints varied as per media reports. The patients complained about poor hygiene as well as the centre being too small for them, making it impossible for them to adhere to the social distancing rule.
Others are angered about having to pay for their confinement, which costs between 20 (£16) and $100 a night – depending on the centre.
Hostels at schools and universities as well as hotels have been used to hold those in quarantine.
More than 400 people are believed to be in quarantine. They included people who arrived in the East African country from areas affected by the virus before Kenya closed its borders.
It is, however, not clear how many individuals escaped from the quarantine centre at the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) but some reports put the number at 50.
The Daily Nation newspaper reported that the KMTC has more than 200 people in quarantine.
President Uhuru Kenyatta imposed a three-week ban on movement in and out of four main coronavirus “infected areas” on April 6, 2020.
The lockdown areas include Nairobi, the port city of Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale.
Kenya has recorded 296 cases of COVID-19 with 14 deaths.
Forty-three of Africa’s 54 countries have closed their borders, according to the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than half of Africa’s 54 countries have imposed lockdowns, curfews, travel bans or other restrictions to try to contain the spread of COVID-19. Fifty-one of the continent’s countries have reported cases of the disease.