Two arrested for escaping isolation centre to go and drink beer
Two Kenyans have been arrested at a bar after they escaped from a coronavirus isolation centre to go and drink beer, the BBC has reported.
Police spotted the two at a packed bar in the capital, Nairobi, also flouting directives to permit at least one-metre gap between people at social centres in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
Police stormed the pub after a tip-off from residents because of a ban on the operation of bars.
The two said they fled the facility after waiting for days without being tested. Together with some eleven other people, they scaled the wall of the isolation centre and went separate directions. Kenyan newspaper, The Daily Nation, tweeted footage of the escape.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”in” dir=”ltr”>Spotted: Kenyans under quarantine at KMTC Mbagathi escape <a href=”https://t.co/wlGwH3EY4h”>pic.twitter.com/wlGwH3EY4h</a></p>— Daily Nation (@dailynation) <a href=”https://twitter.com/dailynation/status/1252640740884090881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>April 21, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
They also disclosed that they were unable to foot the bill between $20 (£16) and $100 a night for the quarantine period.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that about 50 out of 200 suspected coronavirus carriers have escaped from the Kenya Medical Training College where an isolation centre has been provided.
Hundreds of residents have been ordered to stay under quarantine. The majority are people who arrived from severely affected countries abroad, while others are being held for flouting curfew directives.
The reasons stated for refusal to stay at the centres vary, with some citing unhygienic conditions.
Police Chief, Muthuri Mwongera, told the BBC: “A majority of those who escaped had been arrested around this area before being taken to quarantine and so we know we will arrest more with time”.