Joho furious with Mombasa residents for snubbing Covid-19 mass testing
By Hilary KimuyuMombasa Governor Hassan Joho has been left seething with rage for failure of residents of the county to turn up for Covid-19 mass testing for the second day in a row.
The governor says he can’t understand why residents of the county are not taking advantage to be tested after the government kicked off mass testing in the county which has a high number of the virus cases in the country.
LOCKDOWN
“Where is your mind, what kind of laziness is this. You get to social media and oppose everything. You are not protecting me my friend. I have my mask, I have my gloves… Everybody talks of being tested and you don’t want to be tested? Stop joking, stop excuses,” Joho said.
“We will not keep repeating ourselves, we have come to declare today, that you must be tested and if you refuse to be tested, we will ensure that you cannot move out of this area. Mutapimwa! I don’t mince my words, and you know me!” an angry Joho said.
The governor said out of 28,000 people in old town only 130 people have been tested since they began the drive.
Joho’s reaction came as the government on Saturday said it is considering imposing stricter containment measures on Mombasa’s Old Town after majority of locals shunned Covid-19 mass testing that was rolled out by the government.
Mombasa County Commissioner Gilbert Kitiyo said the government may resort to locking down the town after mass testing in the area hit a snag with residents turning out in low numbers.
MASS TESTING
Kitiyo said even though health authorities planned on testing 500 people per day, only 55 residents turned out for the exercise on Friday when it was launched while 71 people availed themselves on Saturday.
“We will continue monitoring the mass-testing and if those who are coming for the exercise is still low, we will cordon off this area and we will ensure that everyone is tested for Covid-19.” he said.
He cautioned citizens against trivializing the impact of the pandemic which has so far claimed 22 lives in the country with 435 in total having tested positive.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, while issuing the daily Covid-19 briefs at Afya House on Friday, highlighted the area as a hotbed for infections.
On Saturday, the county reported five new cases out of the 24 that were reported in the country while on Friday it reported eleven Covid-19 cases.