NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 30 – The Ministry of Education is working with county governments to identify at least 20 boarding schools in each devolved unit which will be converted into makeshift hospitals for COVID-19 patients should cases recorded in the country increase.
Deputy President William Ruto Monday said the boarding schools will be well equipped to be used as health facilities in case of a crisis.
The directive will see the country have at least 900 schools used as isolation and treatment centres.
“The government has directed the ministry of education to work with all county govt’s to identify at least 20 boarding schools per county to be prepared/equipped for use as health facilities as part of COVID-19 preparedness,” the DP said in a tweet.
At the moment isolation centres have been set aside at national referral and county referral hospitals countrywide.
As of Sunday Kenya, had recorded 42 positive cases while nearly 1,000 people who came into close contact with confirmed cases remained in isolation.
Ruto’s remarks on the number of schools to be identified to boost government’s preparedness for coronavirus came a day after Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said the government was mapping boarding schools and airport hangars for use as isolation facilities for coronavirus.
“It is likely that our health facilities can be overrun by demand, we need to be looking as communities in your villages what are the secondary schools, particularly boarding schools that we can begin to identify as potential areas where we can keep the sick if the situation overruns,” the Health Cabinet Secretary said on Sunday.
DP Ruto further urged all Kenyans to comply with guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health especially on personal hygiene in order to combat the coronavirus pandemic which remains a global threat.
“We continue to ask all Kenyan to comply with directives on personal hygiene and curfew. The religious leaders have shown exceptional compliance as have millions of Kenyans. Avoid blame game let’s pull together,” he said.
