Kirinyaga County screens 15,000 for corona virus at border checkpoints

From Kirinyaga.go.ke

Kirinyaga County has screened over 15,000 people crossing into the county from neighboring counties in the past one week.

The county has set up road blocks at Kwa Samaki to screen travelers from Nairobi, at PI to screen those coming from Embu, at Sagana to screen those coming from Murang’a and at Kiangai to screen the people travelling from the neighboring Nyeri County. Governor Anne Waiguru has said that the screening exercise which involves checking the temperature of everyone travelling into the county was aimed at detecting anyone with fever or corona virus symptoms and refer them for medical attention immediately.

The Governor said that that the checkpoints that are manned by the police  and public health officers enables the county to screen about  2,300 people in a day using non-contact gun thermometers. She said that the county has 30 such thermometers which are being used on the roads and in some of the health facilities adding that the county is in the process of acquiring 50 more such thermometers to cater for all the health facilities in the county. She however said that so far none of the travelers have been detected to have fever but the screening team is vigilant and ready to handle any case that may be indicative of corona virus infection.

Apart from screening at the road blocks, patients and other people accessing health facilities are also screened to ensure that anyone infected does not spread the virus into the hospitals. Screening at county border points comes at a time when the National Government has barred movement of people into and from Nairobi metropolitan, Mombasa, Kilifi counties with the exemption of those offering the gazetted essential services.

Governor Waiguru has stressed on the need for motorists to cooperate with the officials at the checkpoints to ensure smooth execution of the screening exercise. She said that even though the county has not yet recorded any corona case, all the prescribed prevention guidelines must be adhered to at all times to guard the county against the virus.

She added that the county government has put in place various prevention measures that include establishing hand washing stations in public places, distribution of sanitizers in all health facilities, enforcing social distancing in public areas and setting up of an isolation ward at Kerugoya County Referral Hospital among other measures.