Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua, on Wednesday, April 1, sent out a statement that has since come back to bite him.
Following Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe's presser held on the same day, in which he announced that the total number of Covid-19 cases had risen to 81 and that 1 of the new cases was a Machakos resident, Governor Mutua issued the following statement.
"Machakos Corona case: There is no case yet of Covid-19 in Machakos County. A person bearing a Machakos ID came from abroad and never set foot in Machakos but was quarantined in Nairobi.
"We don’t understand why Machakos was mentioned. We expect cases in the future. For now no case!" reads the tweet shared on his official page.
However, this turned out to be a case of the governor shooting himself in the foot, as hawk-eyed netizens pointed out the glaring error in his statement.
CS Kagwe had not actually stated that the patient in question was currently in Machakos, only that he was a native of the county.
"In terms of the county of origin, now please note that these are not people who are in those counties. These are not people who have been tested in those counties. These are people who have not arrived in those counties because they are in quarantine.
"Kakamega County 1, Kiambu 2, Kilifi 1, Machakos 1, Mombasa 7, Murang'a 1, Nairobi 1 Nyamira 1, Paskitanis 2 and 2 Cameroon nationals," the Health CS announced during his presser.
The CS went on to give further details regarding the 22 new cases, including their genders (13 male, 9 female).
He reiterated the need for Kenyans to adhere to stipulated directives to curb the spread the deadly virus which he claimed was being passed on within our borders now, as opposed to the earlier days which largely involved foreign nationals or Kenya citizens coming from foreign countries.
"There's a very high chance that the person next to you has been exposed, please keep your distance," he cautioned.
On March 26, the Ministry of Health (MoH) warned all governors across the country against releasing Covid-19 cases data to the public because they were not currently in a position to test or treat them.
In a press conference at Afya House, Health Director-General Patrick Amoth announced that the ministry is the only institution mandated to give information to the public regarding Coronavirus.
This came after Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya announced that his county had confirmed one case of Covid-19, who turned out to be a previous patient who had already been tallied.
“We have to appeal to the county governments that we have one central reporting system so that we are consistent throughout our reporting in line with WHO requirements,” Amoth re-emphasised.
Watch CS Kagwe's April 1st briefing below:
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