Woman begs CS Kagwe to release her from extended quarantine
A woman placed under mandatory quarantine has captured the attention of Kenyans with her passionate appeal to Health CS Mutahi Kagwe.
The young woman penned an emotional open letter to the Health CS asking him to reconsider the 14-day extension of their isolation.
Kagwe on Saturday announced that those who have been in quarantine centres will have to extend their stay their by a fortnight.
This is after it emerged that some of those quarantined were sneaking out to go partying, a move that could further spread Covid-19.
In the letter written from quarantine at Pride Inn Azure hotel in Nairobi, the woman lamented that it wasd unfair for individuals who have been adhering to the government’s orders in quarantine to be punished for the sins of those who have been flouting the rules.
“We continue observing quarantine rules even though the rest of us tested negative. We wear masks every time we step out of our rooms. Sir, we are not party to the cases you cited in your press briefing. We therefore PLEAD with you to INTERVENE in our case, and authorise our release after our 14 days quarantine are over. Some of us are due to check out of the hotel on Monday the 6th of April,” read part of the letter.
In a separate video recording, the young woman experiences an emotional breakdowns as she narrates her experience in isolation.
She said she arrived in the country on March 23, and was taken to the hotel for quarantine, a stay she lamented has been unpleasant.
The woman narrated how she had suffered four panic attacks while some of her fellow students quarantined at the same hotel often break down in tears.
“My greetings to everyone watching this video, I arrived in Kenya on the 23rd of March after I flew in from Canada. We were taken to a hotel where we were told we should quarantine and I complied. Now what happens on the 12th day we are told that we have to stay for 14 more days after our period is over. Considering we had followed all the government had said.
“So many of us are university students in the hotel, there is a pregnant mother who needs prenatal care and she is not getting that. So many of us are travelling from abroad and it is like our mental health has not been put into consideration at all. All this is taking a toll on our mental health if we won’t be affected by the virus for sure we will get so many panic attacks.”
I have had four panic attacks in the last two hours. The government has not taken into consideration the mental health of all the people quarantined,” complain the University student.