Two Kabarak Guest House staffers test positive for COVID-19

Two staff members at Kabarak Guest House in Nakuru have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 80 contacts are quarantined at the facility.

Education CS George Magoha  was speaking in Nairobi after a meeting with TVET  principlas and said those affected will remain in quarantine for 14 days.

“We were also vetting grade 5 books, we had 295 people at Kabarak, they finished and disbanded two weeks ago. We were to vet books for Grades 9, 10, 11 but two people at the guest house tested positive, 80 people now on quarantine,” he said.

The CS said he and other education ministry officials were also at Kabarak to assess the readiness for possible reopening of the institution in September.

He said an inspection confirmed that the area is conducive for learning to resume as all measures are in place but ‘the elephant in the room is social distancing.’

“My worry is the hostels in the medical colleges that could be used in case the hospitals overrun,” he said.

“We shall not open until cases of the disease have stopped increasing. I don’t think the president will open schools when the numbers are still spiking,” he added.

A senior official at Kabarak said they have been conducting routine tests on a regular basis and the two positive cases are from samples collected on June 25, 2020.

“On Sunday June 28, we got the results and two of the samples tested positive. The county response team took necessary steps to isolate the cases,” a statement from Kiprotich Chepkoit reads.