A Kitui priest, Nicholas Maanzo, who flew into the country on Monday, March 23, has been rushed to the Mbagathi Hospital in Nairobi after developing an abnormal fever.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, a source from the area who preferred anonymity, revealed that the clergyman had developed an abnormal temperature on Saturday night, March 28.
The health officers who were monitoring him during his mandatory quarantine then decided to immediately transfer him to Mbagathi Hospital where he was tested for Covid-19.
One of the health workers revealed that the results would be relayed to him within 48 hours.
Father Maanzo had caused quite a stir in Kitui after reports emerged that he had been spotted at an ATM within the town on Tuesday night, March 24, despite instructions that he self-quarantine upon flying in from Ireland.
Sources in Kitui went on to reveal that the priest had gone on to visit a supermarket, a fact he has since denied during an interview in which he claimed to have been turned away, as the retail store was closing down for the day.
“I went to an ATM and got some money but I didn’t go into the supermarket because I found the facility closing and was not allowed in,” he confessed.
Reports of his movements led to his arrest forceful quarantine spearheaded by Kitui Central Police boss Nzioka Singi, who went on to assign health officers to monitor his health for the recommended 14-day period.
“You are lucky that you do not show any signs of illness. You must know that you committed a serious mistake by leaving your home to go to town,
Should it emerge that you are sick, you will be arrested and charged," the county police boss explained to the priest, following his forced isolation.
He was thus confined to his Kiara village home, under constant watch prior to the latest development.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI)had on Monday, March 23, issued a statement laying out the mode of punishment that will be meted out to individuals found guilty of infecting others with Covid-19.
Citing the Public Health Act Cap 242, the DCI announced that any individual deemed guilty of passing on infectious diseases to others knowingly would be ordered to pay a fine of Ksh30,000, serve a 3-year prison sentence, or both.
The announcement comes in the wake of Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe's statement on March 22, where he stated that Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi, would face prosecution refusing to self-isolate after arriving in the country from Germany via Amsterdam on March 6, only to later on test positive for Covid-19.
