More pain for students who survived quarantine

Brenda Akinyi visits her mother's grave at Mbaraki Cemetery, Mombasa County. Brenda was released from quarantine on Monday April 13, 2020. Her mother, Ursula Buluma, is believed to have died from coronavirus. [Kelvin Karani, Standard]

Seven Kenyans cleared to leave a quarantine facility at Kenyatta University have been detained after they were unable to foot their bills.

Among those held are students and workers returning home after Covid-19 disrupted their studies and jobs in the United Arab Emirates.

They have all tested negative for coronavirus, but cannot walk away to freedom, with both university and government officials insisting they must clear their bills first. 

Each one of them had accumulated Sh38,000 in accommodation bills by Saturday when they were cleared.

On Sunday, the defaulters were briefly locked out of their rooms and their personal belongings detained as KU sought to force them to pay up.

According to various accounts from the victims, who feared being named, the university management only allowed them back on humanitarian grounds after it started raining outside.

“It is really a pity that these people cannot go home. Some are students, others lost their jobs in the UAE,” said a government official who is among those quarantined.

Shared pain

Through a WhatsApp group, the detained students and workers shared the pain of their continued confinement. From the online discussions, it has emerged that their appeals to the university management and government have gone unheeded.

Government spokesperson Col Cyrus Oguna has said all those placed under quarantine must shoulder the cost of staying in the quarantine facilities, whether public or private.

Another group is facing an extended quarantine after the government slapped 14 more days on their detention.

After arriving back in the country on March 23, the group had proceeded to the first phase of quarantine, which was supposed to end on April 6.

However, further Covid-19 tests confirmed four cases in their midst, informing the 14-day extension.

The extension was interrupted on the fifth day when another round of testing revealed two more cases which have since been moved to hospital.

“Twenty four days later, we are still in quarantine. This is turning out to be a prison. No information, no communication. We are still here, distressed, isolated from life. This is pushing us to the cliff,” one told The Standard.

Those affected said they felt abandoned.

“Has the government deliberately decided to forget that we ever existed, and do we have any rights any more?” wondered one.

Another, a government official who requested anonymity, described the infinite quarantine period as “devastating”.

In the group put on the extended quarantine is a newly-wed couple returning from their honeymoon.

A consortium of 24 human rights societies have already voiced their concern about the fate of those in quarantine, especially on their well-being, and demanded that the State shoulders the cost of keeping them in quarantine facilities.

Closing down

Last week, Health CS Mutahi Kagwe indicated that the State was beginning to close down the more than 60 quarantine facilities in Nairobi and Mombasa.

He was responding to a public outcry over the poor state of some of the quarantine facilities, some of which lacked basic amenities such as bathrooms and running water.

In an interview yesterday, Col Oguna seemed uncertain about how many quarantine centres were still operational, and the exact number of people being held in the facilities.

According to Oguna, even as more Kenyans get released from quarantine, new contract tracing cases were arising everyday.

“I will have to check with the Ministry of Health for the updated numbers for all the centres,” he said.