Covid-19 escapees captured, one died, another at large as Old Town blockade tightens

In a tragic twist of fate, one of the five victims in Mombasa’s Old Town who escaped after testing positive for coronavirus has died.

Coast Regional Coordinator John Elungata revealed that an elderly male escapee died days after fleeing medical officials and was hurriedly buried by family.

“We have three people who had escaped after testing positive. One is still on the run and the other one died,” said Mr Elungata who also announced that only 3 out of 273 residents of Likoni who were tested early this week were positive.

The Saturday Standard established that the elderly man died at an undisclosed house and was hurriedly buried by family at a local cemetery.

Police said a number of those who participated in the burial slipped out of Old Town to Likoni and Kisauni before Old Town was put under lockdown on Wednesday evening.

Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho yesterday confirmed that “among those five who escaped from Old Town four were found and one had died."

Three of the escapees have been found hiding in a safe house within Shanty Town, reports indicated.

“They were found in a dingy place,” Joho said, adding that those who ran away are running towards a sure death.

The three men were captured yesterday holed up in a house they went to hide in after learning they had tested positive. Officials said the three have been taken to isolation centres as medical teams embark on the difficult and sometimes tedious process of contact-tracing.

A fifth suspected case, a woman,  is on the run and is believed to be hiding with relatives in Mtongwe, Likoni.

On Thursday, Joho announced that five patients had fled after learning that they had tested positive for Covid-19, sparking fears that their disappearance could trigger a further spike in community transmission within Old Town and the larger Mombasa County.

Reports indicated the five were among a group tested between Friday and last weekend. They began fleeing after getting their results, which meant being taken to isolation for treatment.

The Saturday Standard established that the three men were found hiding in one family house within Kuze area, having moved there on Wednesday.

It is not clear whether the unidentified men were related but reports indicate they fled on Wednesday leaving behind their wives and children who have been put on mandatory 14 days quarantine.

Many of those who test positive go into hiding for fear of being taken for forced quarantine at their expense. But Elungata said the State will pay for patients isolated after testing positive. 

(By Weldon Kipkemoi, Mkamburi Mwawasi and Joackim Bwana)