A father rejected his family and warned his kin not to visit him or set foot in his home after 31 cases of Coronavirus (Covid -19) were confirmed in Kenya by the Health Ministry.
In a report aired by NTV on Thursday night, March 26, the elderly man, one John Nyakiduluja, who hails from Homa Bay County, warned his kin, who reportedly had toured Italy not to travel back home as he feared to contract the virus, and later succumbing from it.
Italy is one of the nations severely hit by the pandemic, with 7, 503 deaths reported as of Wednesday, March 25.
"In Italy, we have witnessed many aged people succumb to the disease. Our children have been undertaking their studies in Italy and they may have returned back to Nairobi with the disease.
"Let them stay there. I don't want them to come to our area. I am an old man and I don't want to die and also my fellow old men would not want to die either. What do those children want to do back at home? I want to live so let another disease attack me, but not Corona. Let those sons, uncles and friends stay in Nairobi," Mzee John warned.
The old man further warned that the disease was deadly and very contagious.
Previous advisories from bodies including the World Health Organization (WHO) have revealed that individuals over the age of sixty and those with underlying health issues including Diabetes, Cancer, Heart and Respiratory diseases remain most vulnerable to Covid-19.
Kenya's first fatality was a 66-year-old man who had travelled from South Africa.
According to a statement seen by Kenyans.co.ke, the man suffered from Diabetes and had arrived in the country on Friday, March 13.
"We received the sad news of the death of a patient who had tested positive for the Coronavirus. My condolences to the family," the statement signed by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe read in part.
On Friday, March 20, many Kenyans left for the rural areas, running away from the urban areas which have been marked as red zones. Nairobi, Kilifi and Mombasa Counties have recorded the highest numbers of those tested positive for the virus, with over 2,000 isolated in the regions.
In mid-March 2020, George Natembeya, Rift Valley regional commissioner, urged those residing in urban areas to self-isolate in the regions rather than travelling upcountry, risking to spread the disease.
"You are transporting disease, and if people die, you will carry that cross for the rest of your life," Natembeya warned.
Video: NTV
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