Govt declares Maanzoni Lodge a quarantine zone

The Ministry of Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has declared Maanzoni Lodge a quarantine zone after 720 youth were found in a meeting.

While the circumstances of the meeting remain unclear, Citizen Digital understands it was in total disregard of the requisite social distancing.

The 720 have now been quarantined and will be released once they are tested for the new coronavirus.

On Tuesday, police officers had stormed the lodge after getting wind that the youths drawn from Machakos were meeting to strategize for the 2022 General Election.

In the aftermath, a manager and the leader of the group were arrested for flouting the directive from the Ministry of Health that had banned all public gatherings over the Covid-19 pandemic.

The two were held at the Athi River police cells throughout Tuesdays pending further consultation.

This comes just days after CS Mutahi Kagwe said that Kenya only has 2050 people in mandatory quarantine.

In the meantime, the government of Kenya has confirmed an additional 9 cases of the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of infections to 59.

According to Chief Administrative Secretary Dr. Mercy Mwangangi, tracing of contacts of the 59 patients is ongoing.

“So far, total close contacts reported were 1658 and out of this number, 508 have been discharged after completing 14-day mandatory follow-up,” she said.

The CAS further noted that health teams are currently monitoring 1160 close contacts.

She stated that the Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital, which now has a bed-capacity of 300, will boost response services offered at the Mbagathi Hospital isolation centre.

The CAS also reiterated that the National Government is exploiting usage of boarding schools as isolation units in the event the situation worsens.

At the same time, the government has asked Kenyans to follow the routine directives from the ministry of health to stem the spread of the pandemic.

The directives include: social distancing, observing personal hygiene, avoiding public gatherings and observing the daily 7pm to 5am curfew.