Coronavirus drill cancelled after Kenya confirms first case

The government has cancelled the planned drill on the coronavirus prepared slated for Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and at the Infectious diseases unit in Mbagathi County Hospital. 

The Health ministry ditched the plan after the country confirmed its first case on Friday, making the drill unnecessary as the country already has real infection to deal with.

Government Spokesperson Col Cyrus Oguna said the exercise was “no longer necessary” as there is already a coronavirus patient being attended to at one of the facilities.

“It does not make sense to carry out a drill when the country already has a patient to attend to at KNH,” said Oguna.

The government, through the Mministry, had on Thursday indicated it will carry out a drill on Sunday March 15.

Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe (pictured) told Kenyans not to panic when they hear ambulance sirens as they carry out the drill.

The drill was to start at 11am and will simulate a real case scenario of a coronavirus infection in the country and how health officers should respond.

He had urged Kenyans not to panic as what was to happen was a simulation exercise to test the country’s readiness to handle the deadly virus.

“I do not want when the ambulances start whirling away for people to think that we have a real situation. If you hear sirens along the roads, don’t panic. It’s a drill!” he said.

The move to carry out a drill was arrived at after a joint parliamentary committee on Health questioned the government’s preparedness in case there is an outbreak in the country.

The country’s first case is a 28-year-old woman who left the Cleveland’s Hopkins’s International Airport to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport aboard an American Airlines Flight for the 40-minute trip. From Chicago, she again boarded an American Airlines to London’s Heathrow Airport.

During the eight-hour trip from London to Nairobi, Patient Zero says things started to be a bit suspicious. She told Ministry of Health Officials that she sat next to a coughing passenger.

Although her suspicions were piqued, she got to JKIA on March 5 exhibiting no symptoms.

 According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) the incubation period -- the time between catching the virus and beginning to have symptoms -- ranges between 1-14 days, most commonly around five days.

At JKIA, she and three passengers, hailed a cab and split the fare. The four travelers parted ways in Nairobi CBD where she got another taxi and proceeded to Rongai.

In Rongai, she was housed by her boyfriend. Preliminary details indicate that the two bedroom apartment was inhabited by seven other individuals.

The government has placed 22 more people under quarantine over fears of coronavirus a day after the first Kenyan patient tested positive.

Those quarantined are believed to have come into close contact with the patient whom government officials said was recovering well.

It is not clear where the isolated patients met and interacted with the patient who remains quarantined at KNH.