NAIROBI, Kenya May 31 – The Ministry of Health said it is working with prison authorities to curb further transmissions after 31 inmates tested positive in Nairobi.
Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman said the ministry was working closely with officials at the correctional facilities to ensure inmates in the controlled environment are safe.
“We must protect them because that is a closed community,” he told a news conference Sunday, when he announced 74 new infections, raising the national tally to 1,962.
The inmates, who turned positive at the Nairobi Remand and Allocation Prison, were evacuated on Saturday night for treatment at various health facilities in Nairobi.
“From the results received on Saturday, 31 samples had tested positive for coronavirus after which the Nairobi County Emergency Response Team promptly moved in and evacuated the patients to various treatment centers for case management,” Commissioner of Prisons Wycliffe Ogallo said in a statement issued on Sunday.
The prisons facility was among the areas where targeted mass testing was conducted.
He said 59 samples were collected from remandee and prisoners on Thursday.
“The individuals had just completed 21 days in quarantine at the Nairobi Remand and Allocation Prison where they had been admitted from various courts,” he said.
Those who turned positive were among the 143 positive cases announced by the Ministry of Health on Saturday.
Ogallo has assured that “all convicts and remandees currently in our custody are safe.”
Recently, prison authorities released 11,000 petty offenders and convicts in concurrence with the National Council on Administration of Justice (NCAJ).
The virus curve in Kenya has remained on a sharp increase since last week, topping 1,962 cases by May 31, even as President Uhuru Kenyatta prepares to make a key announcement on the status of a national curfew and other restrictions. So far, 64 people have succumbed to the virus in the country.
A national curfew has been in place for the past two months until June 6, along with restrictions on cessation of movement into and out of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi and Mandera Counties.
About The Author
