To contain spread of Covid-19 and confine its reach to limited numbers, President Uhuru Kenyatta recently proposed a raft of measures including cessation of prayer sessions bringing together large crowds in religious structures countrywide.
The move saw an outcry of a section of the clergy particularly when restaurants and eateries were allowed to operate under more flexible conditionalities. In fact, the move to close prayer rooms was necessary then, given the little we knew about the virus.
While Covid-19 remains a threat to public health among the masses, we now know pretty much about the novel virus, at least among the elite members of the population. Yet mass awareness is the greatest missing link as its management among the masses becomes the new normal.
The means of transmission of the virus, its origins, facts and myths around its spread, the need to wash hands for no less than 20 seconds with soap, the importance of keeping social distance in crowded places, the need to stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary to move around, the need for immunity boosting diet, the importance of physical fitness and the need to wear masks while in public spaces are important information that are yet to be disseminated to the very end of villages across the county despite the continued efforts by the mainstream media.
Particularly, we now know the transmission is ongoing at community level and moving to rural areas already.
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Enter the church. Historically, churches have served as key cogs of information sharing and dissemination among the poor of the poor.
Importantly, open air churches and mosques as alternatives for worship should be encouraged.
Schools and such open fields could be explored by churches as new worship grounds given that they are not used over the weekend.
These, together with constant fumigation of such public spaces will serve to mitigate the virus rather than spread it.
Fears around cash offering payment being potential exposure areas to the virus could be resolved through introduction of " Covid-19 Protocols for Religious Groupings" complete with a raft of recommendations which could include each church operating an Mpesa payment platform as a requirement for operation.
Auscar Wambiya, Milestones Consulting
