Dear Fellow Kenyan,
You surely don’t want to die. I imagine, you also don’t wish to infect a loved one with this horrible coronavirus disease. Yet, these two acts have been the reality of Covid-19.
Over 75,000 people have died and 1.35 million have been infected.
The disease has caused understandable anxiety and disruption of life as we know it. There is no cure. It is highly infectious.
If you fall ill from it, you must be isolated in a space where none of your loved ones can be by your side.
People have died, lonely and alone. Even if you are lucky to survive, you could put a more vulnerable member of your family at risk. They may not make it. You surely can’t willingly put your own life or those of others in the line.
At this time, nobody on earth is breathing easy. We cannot go to work; movement has been restricted.
Yet we now have strong evidence that if we do certain things, we may turn the bend and emerge from the adversity.
In Wuhan, China, where the virus was first discovered, an 11-week lockdown has been lifted. People are getting back to work. Infections have fallen from as high as 2,000 per day to one. Deaths have fallen from thousands to zero, this week. How did they do it? They obeyed the guidance from authorities.
It is never easy to stay indoors, unsure of where the next meal is going to come from. However, it is unimaginable to carry home a disease without a cure that can consume your entire family within minutes. To the best of our ability, let us observe the prescribed personal hygiene, social distancing and isolation practices.
Dear Government, our country is facing an existential threat never seen before. We are hanging by the loop. The numbers are increasing by the day. Many of us now dread watching the daily briefs by Health CS Mutahi Kagwe. Kenyans are out of their wits.
The Covid-19 pandemic has outfoxed us all. I appreciate the efforts you are making. It must be tough.
Other governments are crying too. Access to life saving drugs, personal protective equipment, ventilators and Covid-19 test kits have disappeared from the market.
With a heavy reliance on external suppliers; it must be daunting to get these essential commodities. Yet, that is what you must do.
Our brothers and sisters on the frontline battling the pandemic deserve maximum facilitation. Protect them. Pay them. Encourage them. It was exemplarily pleasant to learn that you have embarked on local production of some of the commodities. Let us produce enough for everybody.
Please reign in opportunistic traders. These are extraordinary times. You have asked people to stay at home. Your citizens are struggling to obey these guidelines. They need basic necessities. They need clean drinking water (also for washing hands). They need food. Sick even before Covid-19, they need medical care.
By the latest count, police have killed more people than has coronavirus in Kenya. Please take the rungus from their hands.
Yes, we are in a crisis; but that does not take away human rights. The same week that Kenya announced additional measures to bring Nairobi, Kilifi, Kwale and Mombasa counties under lockdown; residents of Wuhan were allowed out of their homes back to normal life.
The Kenyan government, too, can lead citizens back to normalcy. We are all waiting for our Wuhan moment.
Adhere Cavince, Nairobi
